Flesh to Metal Version 2
by Tactition101
Summary: Transformers Prime Fic. Getting killed in a pile up on the highway and suddenly waking up in a new body is strange. Said body being a Cybertronian even stranger. At least I have confirmation for the Reincarnation and multi-verse theories.
1. Chapter 1

Flesh To Metal Version 2

Summary: Transformers Prime Fic. Getting killed in a pile up on the highway and suddenly waking up in a new body is strange. Said body being a Cybertronian even stranger. At least I have confirmation for the Reincarnation and multi-verse theories.

1\. New Assignment

Story Start: Our Universe

The area around me was a mess. A blown-out tire from the front of a semi had caused it to careen out of control, taking out five different cars within the first five seconds of the accident and it had only gotten worst from there. I was on the tail end of the first twenty seconds and thanks to my pretty good reflexes had somehow managed to put my little Ford Ranger into a tail spin so that the back end had gotten crumpled and not me. Once my head had stopped ringing, I quickly got out of the cab from the passenger side and scrabbled to the side of the road, glad that I tended to stay in the fast lane whenever I went on freeways and highways simply on principle.

Screeching tires drew my attention as yet another car couldn't stop in time and I saw the mini-van slam into one of the already crumpled wrecks. Seeing the flames that started in both vehicles, I cursed before I rushed back to my truck's still open cab and flipped the back of the passenger seat forward to expose the small fire extinguisher and wonder-bar (mini crowbar) behind the seat. Grabbing both, I quickly rushed over and pulled the pin on the extinguisher, dousing the flames in its foam. Imminent explosions diverted, I helped the passengers get out of the cars only to discover that the driver of the car the mini-van had hit had his leg pinned under twisted metal. Thanking my foresight to grab the wonder-bar, I began prying the metal away from his leg, adrenalin aiding my already not so unimpressive strength and after about thirty seconds, the driver was just able to get his leg out. I had just enough time to wince at the mangled look of his ankle before I threw his left arm over my shoulder and began making my way back to the side of the road.

We were just beginning to pass the hood of my truck when yet again I heard tires screeching and I saw another car squealing as it came towards us too fast to stop. Tossing the driver the last few feet to the side of the road, I made to jump as well only to get hit by the car in the area of the driver side headlight, the force of the impact pinning me into the hood of my truck and causing my head to slam into the side of my truck directly above the wheel well and darkness filled my vision.

Scene Change: Transformers Prime Universe, Iacon Hall of Records

War is Hell. I don't know who was actually accredited with that sentence, but I'm pretty sure they would have used a stronger word if they could see all of the damage war had done to Cybertron over the ages. I certainly used stronger language when I had compared photos of pre-war Cybertron to what it looks like now when Alpha Trion showed me one day when I was on duty guarding him.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Smokescreen, recent Elite Guard Graduate, one of two designated body guards of the Head Archivist, and former human turned Cybertronian. And right now, just waiting for the Cons to burst through the doors as they made a smash and grab for the important documents and relics that the Hall held, not that there were many relics with war applications left thanks to Alpha Trion already sending most of them to Earth, while wondering if the Big A behind me was going to knock me out before they came or not. I got my answer when everything went dark and my last thought was 'Damn it Alpha Trion, you could have at least said goodbye when I could still hear you.'

Time Skip: Millennia Later, Location: Earth's Atmosphere

I was brought out of stasis in time to hear the warning tones of imminent atmospheric entry. Sighing to myself as I saw North America in the windscreen before it began tinting red with friction I thought 'So I did somehow manage to get a pod that headed for the Sol system. What are the odds of that?" As the pod began its entry run, I checked the pair of knives I had taken off the guard I had killed on the way to said escape pod who knows how many eons ago. They were just slabs of sharpened metal, barely longer than the hands holding their hilts, but they would work in a pinch if I got too close for comfort with the Cons that I was sure would be at the crash site. Besides, Elite Guard combat tactics was to keep moving in a way that made it hard to get a proper lock on with the Cons method of firing energy weapons so maybe I could bob and weave my way close and go for their throats if I had to. Putting the knives back in their sheathes that were magnetically clamped to my legs, one on each thigh, I turned my focus back to the outside of the escape pod and braced myself for a hard landing as the ground came rushing towards me.

I was thrown around in my seat as the pod made landfall. Taking only a moment to regain my bearings, I went to the exit of the pod and frowned when I saw the door controls sparking. "So Smokescreen wasn't just being dramatic in the show." I muttered before my right hand turned into a blaster and I shot my way out. I quickly got out of the pod and glanced around. Seeing the same scenery as in the show, I sighed again and said "And of course I would have the same landing site as well." Knowing that if things held true there'd be a squadron of vehicon troopers and about four to six Insecticons coming real soon, I quickly ran to one of the trees that had a good firing sight on the energon trail from the crash but was far enough away to be out of the blast radius of the fireball I planned to create and climbed up, settling in the branches that were near the top. Hopefully the cons wouldn't be looking up.

Once settled, I opened my chest armor and confirmed that the Omega Key was in it before quickly closing it and began surveying the area. Ten minutes later, I saw the cons moving along the ground about two thousand feet away before the sound of a ground bridge opening drew my attention to the Autobots' arrival. I kept an eye on them as they got closer even as I kept most of my attention on the Cons.

As the two groups began fighting, I waited for the cons to get closer to the trench of Energon. When I had judged that they were as in good of a position as I was going to get, I activated my coms and said "Autobot Squad, fall back, I've got eyes on the fight and I'm going to torch the energon."

"Who is this?" Arcee asked even as she took out a drone with an accurate shot.

"Authentication Delta Three Six Five Sierra Victor Niner, pull back now." That was an absolutely ancient authentication code for a member of the Elite Guard by now but it did its job as I heard Optimus call out "Fall back!"

I gave them a five second head start before I shot the energon trail at the farthest point from the escape pod and watched as it quickly shot down the length of the channel it was pooled in before detonating moments after it reached the pod's fuel tank. The fireball was every bit as satisfying as I had hoped and when it cleared away leaving small happily crackling blue fires and no surviving cons in the area I smirked and said "Twelve cons for the price of one Energon shot, not bad." Activating my coms, I sent "Autobot Squadron, you all still in one piece down there?"

"In one piece and grateful for the assist. Can we assume that you were the occupant of the Decepticon escape pod?" Optimus asked.

"You can. I managed to grab it after I had been captured. Hang on, this is a conversation better made face to face now that I don't have to hide from search parties." I said before I dropped out of the tree I was hiding in and walked over to the group. Coming to a stop in front of Optimus, I saluted and said "Smokescreen, at your service."

"Welcome to Earth, Smokescreen." Optimus said returning the salute.

"Now what? It's not like we can just bring him back to base." Ratchet said.

"It wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be a plant." Arcee added.

Optimus took that in as he studied me before he noticed my Elite Guard icon on my shoulders and he pointed at my right shoulder as he said "You used an Elite Guard code, albeit an older one, and I see you bear their emblem."

I nodded and said "Yeah, I received training with them, though it wasn't much more than a boot camp from hell by the time I got there. Never even got a proper graduation ceremony."

"There WAS a war going on." Arcee pointed out sternly.

"I know that, but you're telling me they couldn't spare thirty minutes for a quick speech and to shake our hands before they gave out assignments?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

" **He's got you there Arcee."** Bumblebee said causing Arcee to huff.

"And what assignment were you given Smokescreen?" Optimus asked.

"Security detail at the Iacon Hall of Records. I was one of two guards for Alpha Trion." I said closing my eyes as memories of the Big A made themselves known before I shook my head sharply.

"The Hall of Records of all places?! Optimus, do you not find this highly suspicious?" Ratchet asked.

"You served under the Master Archivist?" Optimus asked.

I nodded and said "I wasn't exactly happy about it at first. I figured I would be the guy's gofer when I started. But the Big A turned out to be a great teacher, and a true friend, teaching me as much as he could while he worked." I gave Optimus a shrewd look as I said "Something we both shared in common I imagine. He was the one who petitioned Halogen and the High Council to make you a Prime after all."

Optimus studied me for a moment more before he said "Raphael, activate the ground bridge."

"That's it, that's all you need to hear before inviting him to the party?!" Arcee asked incredulously.

"If my former mentor shared this information, it is because he considered Smokescreen a trusted ally." The prime answered.

Scene Change: Autobot Outpost Omega 1

Miko was running across the concrete and up the stairs as she looked at me and said "We haven't had anyone new here since Wheeljack! What's your story Smoke? Where'd you come from? How'd you get here? How many blasters you packing?!"

I raised an eyebrow and said "Two blasters, but my Elite Guard training means I know how to fire them fast enough to be mistaken for a whole squadron of Autobots and still be accurate with them."

"Cool!" Miko said with wide eyes from where she stopped three quarters of the way up the stairs.

"Indeed, but I too share Miko's fascination with how you came to arrive on Earth." Ratchet said as he and the others came up behind me.

"In a Decepticon escape pod." Arcee said with crossed arms.

"You did mention being captured." Optimus said.

I nodded to him and said "The main thrust of combat operations was at least twenty clicks from the Hall of Records, so things had been pretty quiet. But things went downhill fast. The Cons launched a massive surge that wiped out the last line of defense surrounding Iacon. I was the last line of defense between the Cons and Alpha Trion. However, before they reached me, everything went black." I closed my eyes before I opened them again as I said "I can only assume Alpha Trion knocked me out so that way he could try and slip this past the Cons." My chest piece opened up and I reached in to pull out the Omega Key as I said "Iacon historical item Identification Number 30147, Designation, Omega Key #4, Description, one of four keys for the Omega Lock, said by lore to be the ultimate reset button for our home world." I purposefully refrained from saying just WHERE said Omega Lock was as I handed the key to Optimus who took it with slightly widened eyes.

"Are you serious?!" Arcee asked as she stared at the key with wide eyes.

"The ability to restore Cybertron, right before my optics." Ratchet said faintly as he stared at the relic with undisguised reverence.

Optimus studied the key in his hand for a moment before his torso opened and he put the key in for safekeeping for now. Closing his torso, he looked at me and said "Thank you for safe guarding this very important relic Smokescreen. Please continue your story."

I nodded and said "Cons took me prisoner and dumped me on a transport ship. But I managed to take out a guard when he came to check on me, and I took these from him for good measure." I patted one of the knives on my thighs as I continued "I grabbed an escape pod, but it must have been a long distance one because it almost immediately knocked me into stasis. Next thing I know, I'm just above Earth's atmosphere and then hitting solid ground, hard."

"The Decepticon's warship must have picked up the pod's beacon and guided it to Earth." Ratchet said.

"Which would explain Smokescreen's welcoming committee. Heh, bet the Cons were disappointed not to find one of their own inside." Arcee said, smirking a little at the end.

I allowed a small smirk as well before I glanced to Optimus and said "Well, that's my story. Going through Elite Guard training only to spend a year as a body guard before getting knocked into stasis for Primus knows how many eons. I'm kind of surprised the war is still going on to be honest."

"Yes, this war has gone on for far too long." Optimus said with a frown before he and everyone else glanced to the sound as a scraping then thudding sound was heard in a repeating pattern. We all saw Bulkhead stumble in as he said "So this is the new guy you all found huh?"

I blinked and said "Bulkhead, member of a black-ops group called the Wreckers, right?"

"That's right, and you're Smokescreen. I heard you guys talking." Bulkhead said as he studied me and seemed to find me wanting somehow.

Before I could answer to that, Optimus drew all of our attention back to him as he said "Smokescreen, I suggest that you take some time to get acclimated to your new surroundings. A tour of the base would be an excellent start."

"Sure thing!" Miko said from where she was next to Jack and Raf only for a groan of irritation from Bulkhead to make her back step verbally as she said "I mean, Jack here offers a very informative tour."

I turned my head to look at Jack and he gave this kind of half smile at being put on the spot.

Thirty minutes later, we were at the tail end of the tour and I frowned at where Airachnid was being kept in a stasis pod as I said "I heard stories about this eight-legged creep. Not good ones either." (The show REALLY didn't prepare you for how nasty she really was.)

"Yeah, we all breathed a sigh of relief the day Arcee caught her." Jack said looking in before he began walking back to the main room.

We came out just as the Red Energon was discovered and as Optimus said they must clear out the humans from the dig site, I said "Red Energon?! That stuff is supposed to be incredibly rare, only Dark Energon being more scarcely found." Walking over to the screen to look at it, I said "Sir, permission to be one of the members of the recovery team."

"Given your limited field experience, I believe further training is required before you're battle ready." Optimus said.

Even though I knew that was what he would say, I still frowned and said "Optimus, with all due respect, for me I just came out of Elite Guard training a year ago, isn't that training enough?"

"Perhaps if we were still on Cybertron, but this is Earth, and different rules apply here. We Autobots live on this planet as Robots In Disguise, you will need to obtain an Earth based vehicle mode." Optimus said.

"In order to maintain a low profile." Arcee finished.

I nodded and said "Fair enough. What can I scan that would best help out this team? Heavy armor? Big guns? High speed? Maybe something flight capable? Do you even have access to the military vehicles of this planet? This base was clearly something else before you guys occupied it so someone in the planet's government obviously knows about you guys but they might not be happy with someone masquerading as a military vehicle." I said the last part with a cocked head.

" **Having someone who can match me and Arcee in high speed pursuits would be nice."** Bumblebee said with a raised hand.

"And I don't think Agent Fowler's going to be able to get a tank or an attack helicopter for the kid to scan." Arcee said with crossed arms.

"Speed it is then. What's the fastest thing you can get me?" I asked.

"Well the current speed holder for a commercially available car would be the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport with just over two hundred and fifty miles per hour for top speed." Raf said as he looked up the fastest car on his laptop. Looking up with a wince he said "But they cost about 2.7 Million dollars."

Both Miko and Jack whistled at the price and I winced as I said "Yeah, I don't think we're getting our hands on one of those any time soon, even just to get a quick look at it. What about cars in the 150 miles per hour range?"

Raf typed some more and said "Well, there's a nearby Car place with a pair of Pontiac GTOs, they can reach 160 easily."

"Sounds like a winner." I said with a grin even as I thought 'My old Ford Ranger's gauge only went to 120 and the highest I ever got was 100 going down-hill. This is going to be awesome!'

"I will inform Agent Fowler to get you access to one of those vehicles when I contact him." Optimus promised as he walked over to the communications station to call said Special Agent.

Time Skip: An Hour Later

I grinned down at the silver GTO in front of me, Agent Fowler and I in a secluded warehouse with the vehicle and Agent Fowler smirked at said car as he said "This thing was a beauty to drive, I might just have to buy it after all rather than just 'test drive' it." I let out a chuckle at that before I scanned the vehicle and transformed into it for the first time ever. A few moments later, two cars quickly drove out of the warehouse, one turning towards Jasper, the other back towards the car lot to be bought by a federal agent.

I came back to the base in time to hear Optimus saying over the coms about Starscream being present for the Red Energon and I said "Starscream? Isn't he the Cons' military commander? What's he doing on an asset acquisition run?" (As if I didn't know, but pretenses must be kept.)

"He went rogue some time ago, and with the Apex Armor, there is a likely chance he will succeed in his quest to obtain the Red Energon." Ratchet said without looking towards me.

'Thank you Ratchet.' I thought with a grin and said "Apex Armor eh? I wonder how good that would do against the Phase Shifter I saw in the vault." As Ratchet's head raised at that, I continued "Commander, permission to perform a little bit of asset denial?"

Ratchet turned his head to study me for a moment before to my surprise he let out the slightest of smirks as he said "Permission granted, Smokescreen." I gave him a quick salute before I ran over to the vault and grabbed the Phase Shifter.

Scene Change: Docks

I came out of the ground bridge portal to the sight of Starscream trying to push the crane into the water. I rolled up to a hundred feet in front of him and transformed. Starscream dropped the crane and took a few steps towards me as he said "So, the Autobots have a new recruit."

"And you must be Starscream. You're uglier than I thought you'd be." I said with a smirk. Starscream growled but before he could say anything, I rushed the con. Ignoring Optimus calling me to fall back, I mentally activated the Phase Shifter on my right arm and launched myself through the armor, rolling out the back with Starscream's shoulder guards in my hands. Coming out of my roll, I threw Starscream onto the ground and sent him skidding back. He had just enough time to stop and gasp out "A Phase Shifter?!" before his eyes widened as he scrambled away from the barrage of blaster bolts I fired at him, barely having the proper state of mind to grab the small chunk of Red Energon by his feet before rapidly fleeing the area, using the Ground Bridge remote he had to get out of the area as fast as he could.

Sighing, I muttered "Damn it, I should have aimed for the Energon." Looking up at the crate, I let out a short 'Heh' and continued "At least we've got the bigger portion though."

Scene Change: Omega 1

We came through the Ground Bridge with Bumblebee and Arcee carrying the Red Energon while I carried the collapsed form of the armor and the phase shifter. Once everything was settled onto the ground, Optimus looked towards me and said "Smokescreen, you have shown that you remembered your training well, by placing strategy over bravado." Walking closer, he continued "While this may lack the pageantry of a proper Elite Guard ceremony, I wish to welcome you to Team Prime."

I stared at everyone else before I heard Bulkhead say "Looks like I was wrong, the newbie did alright."

I frowned as Miko went to try and comfort Bulkhead only for him to turn and make his way further into the base. Sighing, I thought to myself 'I'm almost wishing Human Factor comes sooner rather than later just so that he won't be stuck in this depression anymore.'


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note I Really Hope People Will Read: I'm going to try to make this quick and to the point so that you guys can actually get to what you want. Guys, the review option is there for reviews, not to leave update requests. I have literally had DOZENS of people leaving reviews that say 'please update' and it is PISSING me off. I have had a schedule posted on my profile of what I will update and when since before New Years and so far I have managed to keep to that schedule. Do any of you understand how hard it is for me to have something to post every week when before I went MONTHS without even opening a word document, never mind actually posting anything? I'm sorry I can't crank out multiple chapters for multiple stories like some of the truly awesome authors like SakuraDemonAlchemist but I have a life beyond writing. For instance, this week I am working SEVEN nights in a row at my job at the Walmart Neighborhood Market because my fellow night shift maintenance worker is taking a week long vacation. I am EXHAUSTED when I come home because I spend the hours between ten PM to seven AM on my feet, and yet I still have to edge the front and side yards, cut the grass, pull vines out of our bushes, lay down six bales of pine straw, replace the bird seed and suet in our little bird feeding area, and as a bonus I may have to do some repair work on the sprinkler system. All of this and still try to get a two thousand word plus chapter written within seven days, when I can barely get one or two paragraphs down at once. I'm sorry, but as much as I would love to take advantage of my maximum speed of one hundred words per minute typing ability to just crank out stories all day, not only is my word document program INCAPABLE of keeping up making me have to start and stop while it catches up, but I can't actually keep a constant 'scene' in my head for that long, especially when I need to transcribe from video sources. You all are lucky I haven't reverted back to my old schedule and yet every time I see that review alert in my email I'm mentally flipping a coin on whether I should open it or not because I'm convinced ninety percent of the time all that will be there is 'update please'. And here's the funny part, four out of five times I click on the person's profile, they don't even have any stories of their own. If you want a story that badly, why don't you simply sit down in front of the computer and start writing yourselves. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE going back and forward with those who leave actual reviews but right now I'm at the end of my rope, and that rope is about to be cut. So please, for the love of Primus, Log, and Merlin, stop asking for updates in the review section. If you don't have anything constructive to add to that story, please just go to my profile and take a look at the schedule so that you can count how many weeks before I post the next chapter.

(Sigh) Well, that went much longer than I expected, I apologize. Anyway, here's the next chapter for you guys.

2\. Laser Pointer Of Death

I glanced at the object inside the vault with a contemplative look. Now that it was raining outside, a rather rare occurrence in the desert if my basic knowledge of geographical meteorology was correct, it was time for the next act. Was it worth trying to be helpful only to get violently shut down or should I just keep my mouth shut. Finally shrugging to myself, I grabbed the Apex Armor and walked back into the main area. Instead of going straight to Bulkhead though, I approached Ratchet and said "Hey doctor, do you mind if I ask you a quick medical question?"

Ratchet seemed to want to sigh as he turned around and said "I suppose I could spare a minute. What do you want to know Smokescreen, and why do you have the Apex Armor with you?"

"Well the Apex Armor is operated mentally rather than by the physical motions of the body inside it so I was thinking, could we use it as a sort of brace for Bulkhead? You know, maybe have him spend an hour or two in it each day to try and help his war injury recover?"

"You think I need a crutch?!" Bulkhead roared as he formed his mace and prepared to knock the Armor away.

Ratchet's outstretched hand stopped the Wrecker cold though as the Medic thought. Finally, he nodded and said "It is certainly worth a shot Smokescreen, and an excellent idea if it works."

"Glad to hear it Commander." I said with a grin before I spun ninety degrees and slammed the armor onto Bulkhead's chest before he could stop me. Once the armor was finished installing itself, I tapped the now bigger than usual big guy's chest and said "You can thank me later Bulkhead." Whistling as I walked away from the now grumbling Wrecker, I moved towards where Optimus was standing and said "How are things going on your end sir?"

"Slow but steady, Smokescreen." Optimus said.

I gave a sigh and said "I guess when the dominant species is organic based, cyber technology suffers. If we were in Iacon, you'd probably have this whole database decoded in a week. A single day if the Big A was working with you."

"Our shared mentor working with me would indeed speed things along rather well." Optimus said with what could have been a whimsical smile on his face even as he continued his work.

Time Skip: Two Hours Later

Optimus called for everyone to meet up in the command center and once we were all gathered, Agent Fowler began explaining about Project Damocles.

"At 16:30 hours, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault. Surveillance shows the Decepticon known as Breakdown at the scene." Agent Fowler said showing said surveillance on the main screen.

"Haven't seen him in a while." Bulkhead said slightly excited for another shot at his rival.

'Gee, I wonder why.' I thought sarcastically.

"It looks like Breakdown entered the base in vehicle mode, with someone behind the wheel." The former ranger continued his report.

"A Decepticon paired with a human?!" Ratchet asked incredulously.

"And I have a pretty good hunch who. The stolen satellite was Project Damocles." Agent Fowler informed.

"Invented by Silas." Optimus said.

"I guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back." Agent Fowler commented.

" **But I thought Silas perished."** Bumblebee said.

"Yeah, I thought Silas was paste." Arcee agreed.

"So did I." The Ranger said with a shrug.

"Agent Fowler, even if he were alive, are you suggesting that Silas has allied Mech with the Decepticons? I highly doubt that Megatron would entertain such an idea!" Ratchet said disbelief ringing loudly in his words.

"But what if he actually didn't, or at least not yet?" I asked drawing everyone's attention to me.

"Smokescreen, you have a theory?" Optimus asked with a tilted head.

I nodded and said "I've been reading the reports of your past missions hoping that it could keep me from being lost if something from your guys' recent past comes up again. Part of that reading was about Mech and the actions they have taken against both Autobots and Decepticons. They have demonstrated before that they have the capability to take down Cybertronians if they can get the drop on them, and Silas had a large portion of a silo's roof drop on him. If I was part of a group of relatively technologically advanced humans with little to no moral obligations and I had a critically injured leader and a Cybertronian body, whether still living or not, I think I might be interested in transferring said leader into said Cybertronian's body. It would give their operatives quite a boost to become a transformer after all."

Everyone Autobot and human alike stared at me blankly for a moment before Miko suddenly grinned and said "So you mean this time Silas might _actually_ be inside the robot he's using?" As everyone's attention turned to her, I let out a smirk and thought 'Well she did call it before, just not with Nemesis Prime.

Coughing into my fist, I drew everyone's attention back to me and continued "Yes well, it's still quite possible that Silas intends to use the satellite as a bargaining chip to earn a 'seat at Megatron's table' as it were."

"A scenario which is as likely as it is concerning. Still, well thought out Smokescreen" Optimus said with a nod that almost came off as proud and I felt my spark warm slightly, the only thing keeping me from grinning being the fact that I knew that I was right due to having seen these events unfold behind a tv screen and unable to tell the Bots how I really knew what I did.

Agent Fowler regained all of our attention as he said "We'll have to get back to the hows and whys later. Now, Project Damocles is a particle beam canon so powerful it can slice up the Pentagon like a birthday cake, or give everyone on Mount Rushmore a mohawk, all from a satellite in orbit. It's the work of a madman, and in Megatron's hands, a threat to anyone, anywhere on the planet, with pinpoint accuracy at the flick of a switch. Thankfully, the Cons may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface code. The only existing copy is stored on the secure servers at Headquarters in Colorado."

"We must keep the code out of Decepticon hands at all cost." Optimus said with a frown.

A snort from me interrupted Bulkhead's excited "Let's Roll!" and as everyone once more looked at me, Optimus said "You have more to add Smokescreen?"

"Yeah, what good is having the code if they don't have the Satellite? I say we just take over the thing's maneuvering mechanisms and drop it in an ocean." I said with crossed arms.

"Smokescreen does have a point Optimus, without the actual weapon, the trigger is worthless. If we can get Raphael's help, a lot of trouble could be prevented." Ratchet said.

"Agreed. However, even if we are to go with this plan, we must still at least make a visual attempt at keeping the Decepticons from obtaining the code, if only to distract them from Raphael's actions." Optimus said and I nodded seeing the wisdom in that.

"I also believe that we should have someone guarding Raphael's house in case the Decepticons decide to take out the intruder in a permanent matter. Bulkhead and Smokescreen seem the best choices for this slim but still possible future problem." Ratchet said and I only allowed myself to blink once at how events were lining up with the show so smoothly.

"Wise counsel indeed Old Friend." Optimus said nodding at his Medic before he glanced at all of the rest of us and said "Team Prime, let's roll."

Time Skip: Ten Minutes Later

Seeing the Decepticon wannabe pull up into the street, I turned on my lights and revved my engine before I shot forward at full speed down the street towards him. My smaller profile slipped under Silas' chassis and he immediately began rolling as I continued pushing him down the street and towards the drainage canal.

We both transformed as we entered open air and as I skidded to a stop, I said "You know, it was rather stupid of you to not check to see if one of us Bots were keeping the kids safe while they took down the Satellite."

"I'll have to remember that for next time." Silas said as his hammer formed.

"And what makes you think there'll be a next time?" I asked before nodding behind Silas.

Said former Colonel glanced back and saw the Apex Armored Bulkhead slam his fists together as he said "I've been itching to trade paint again. Where've you been Breakdown?"

"Be patient, I'm about to send you both there." Silas said.

Bulkhead frowned before glancing over to me and said "That settles it, you were right Kid. MECH really did put Silas in a Transformer's body."

"Oh, the new guy has a good analytical mind, does he?" Silas said as he glanced back at me and said "Seems like it would be a good idea to take you out first then." He then rushed me and slammed his hammer down only for it to pass right through where I had been. Following one of the two plans Bulkhead and I had quickly come up with while we waited, I finished my one foot spin going low and swept the big guy's leg out from under him before rolling away as Bulkhead used the Apex Armor's mentally controlled mechanics to leap up high before coming down on Silas like a cartoon Acme Anvil and slammed Silas into a crater that while relatively shallow reached from channel wall to wall.

Bulkhead jumped out of said crater and landed by me. Giving me a grin, he said "I changed my mind Kid, I think I could get to like using this thing."

I let out a chuckle at that before glancing at Silas as he groaned and shakily got to his feet. Tsking, I said "Guess he's got a harder shell than I thought. I was sure that would have crushed him like a bug in a soda can that just got stomped."

"Sorry to disappoint." Silas said before his gun appeared and he fired a missile at us. The missile exploded against the right side of Bulkhead's Armor and the fireball engulfed us. But when it cleared, neither of us had so much as a scuff mark and I was satisfied to see Silas' right foot subtly move back while his jaw dropped a little and he asked "How?"

I smirked and said "Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance Silas." The next instant, I shot forward and phased through the hybrid before slamming a kick into his back sending him towards Bulkhead who punched him back to me and we started slamming the bastard around in a demented game of Pong. Once Silas had dropped all pretenses of being able to properly defend himself against our back and forward assault, I drew my knives and the next time he came towards me used the phase shifter to bury my right knife halfway into Breakdown's torso before letting go and used the other knife in its head. Immediately after, the yellow lights of its optics faded and Silas slumped to the ground, deader than a door knob.

Bulkhead walked over and courteously flipped the big guy's body over so I could reclaim my knives even as he said "Well done, noobie, there's hope for you yet."

I accepted the 'light' high five the Wrecker gave me and said "Thanks Bulkhead." Anything further I could say was interrupted as there was a red light and crackling sound above us and we saw the Satellite breaking apart as it burned in the atmosphere.

So the satellite was destroyed and Silas was dead meaning Thirst would never happen leaving a vampirical Airachnid and her hive on one of Cybertron's moons for some poor fool to find in a few years when we restored Cybertron. Not a bad day all things considered.

End


	3. Chapter 3

3\. The Sword In The Stone

Story Start: Patrol With Bumblebee

As I drove beside Bumblebee I once more went over my plan. A check after Bulkhead and I had returned to base after dealing with Silas showed that it was possible, I just hoped I wouldn't lose all of the respect I had earned from the rest of the team when I pulled it off. Then I got the alert from my sensors and it was show time.

"Energon signal's getting stronger, about 5 clicks due north." I said before I began increasing my speed.

" **Hey, stay within the speed limit."** Bumblebee sent back, maintaining his own speed even as I pulled forward.

"I'm not picking up any law enforcement id signals anywhere NEAR here." I countered as I continued accelerating before I internally grinned as I saw the SUV coming and did a controlled spin out in order to avoid him, spinning to a stop as I thought 'Here we go.'

The driver door of the SUV opened and the driver steeped out with crow bar in hand. (And why did he have a CROW BAR in reach of his driver seat anyway? Was he planning on breaking a few windows soon?) As the man walked towards me, he said "Hey, Indy 500! When I'm through with you, you're going to need more than a pit crew to put you back together!"

"I prefer Demo Derbies actually!" I called over my speakers before my hood folded up on two hinges going from bumper to wind shield and the blades of my knives shot up then out and locked in place and I jerked forward a foot with my engine revving in a threating manner. The man's jaw dropped for a moment before another jerk forward had him dropping his crow bar and running back for his vehicle screaming about not wanting to deal with Mad Max drivers.

I let out a mad cackle as he spun his tires before shooting down the road as fast as he could. As Bumblebee pulled up I let out one last cackle as I retracted my knives and dropped my hood pieces back into place as I said "Hah, I think he needs to change his underwear once he stops running!"

" **Smokescreen, you shouldn't have done that."** Bumblebee said sternly.

"What? It's not like I broke cover, I've seen the stuff Miko and Bulkhead watch on tv." I defended myself, which was certainly true, one demo derby even had rotary saws on a monster truck for crying out loud.

Bumblebee let out the electronic equivalent of a deep sigh before he rolled past me and said **"Just follow me, and** _ **please**_ **don't do that again."**

"Alright, alright, I'll be good." I said as I backed up into a turn before I started moving forward again.

Time Skip: Back At Base

Ratchet was frowning at me as he said "Smokescreen, we do not bring our weapons out among humans."

"The guy was going to go at me with a crow bar, would you have rather I ran him over to keep him from using it?" I said with all of the seriousness of diffusing a bomb even as I stood at attention.

"He's got you there Ratchet." Bulkhead said and the medic shot him a look that clearly said 'You're not helping!'

Optimus walked up behind me and I turned towards him as he said "While Ratchet is correct, I believe that we are all _equally_ responsible for this incident."

"Us?!" Arcee asked incredulously.

"How?!" Ratchet asked with just as much emotion.

"We weren't even there." Bulkhead said indignantly, before tacking on "Well, Bee was." That got an elbow to the torso from the Scout.

"Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on averting crises that we have overlooked simple matters, such as teaching Smokescreen how to best function on this planet. It is an oversight that must be corrected."

Standing just a little bit straighter, I said "Optimus, I'll go under whatever training you believe I need in order to not make this mistake again."

Optimus let out a small hum as he said "Perhaps the best way for you to learn about the human world is _from_ a human."

"Smokescreen gets his own partner?" Arcee asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Puh-lease! Isn't having three humans here enough?" Ratchet asked.

As everyone stared at Ratchet, I cocked my head and said "Are you by any chance xenophobic doctor?"

" **That would certainly explain a thing or two."** Bumblebee said also cocking his head.

Ratchet deigned to only scoff at us for an answer before turning back to his work station with a heavy sigh.

Optimus forged ahead past the slightly awkward moment as he turned his head towards Jack and said "I was referring to one already among us."

Jack looked slightly flat footed as he said "Um…sure, Optimus. Um, Robots in Disguise, traffic laws, don't beat down humans—I can bring Smokescreen up to speed."

"We've _all_ put in curbside duty. Part of the gig." Bulkhead said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

I gave a nod to the Wrecker before I looked down at Jack who climbed down the ladder and said "Well best way of learning is by doing, hop in Jack." I transformed and as soon as Jack was in the driver's seat carefully wheeled towards the entrance tunnel before accelerating out at about the same speed you would when a highway light turned green.

Scene Change: Jasper

As we turned onto one of Jasper's main roads Jack said "Alright intersection, let's review: Green light?"

"Green for go." I said as we passed under one said light.

As the next light in the chain shifted, Jack said "And yellow?"

"Prepare for red light, either by deceleration or acceleration depending on if you can stop in time." I said, not _exactly_ quoting Jack but still close to it as I smoothly rolled to a stop.

"Good, and obviously red is to stop." Jack said with a short nod before the sound of a revving engine gained both of our attention and Jack took a quick glance in the rear-view mirror before quickly trying to stuff himself down into my seat while at the same time bringing my driver side window up.

"Trouble?" I asked. (As if I didn't know.)

"Just someone from school I'd rather not talk to." Jack said as Vince pulled up alongside us.

"Bully?" I asked in a tone that implied a cocked head.

"The worst, drive!" Jack answered desperately.

"No can do, red light, and a car coming from the left as well so no turning." I said with said car quickly shooting past just as I finished speaking. Unfortunately, right at that point Vince let fly with his burger. I let out a growl as the light finally turned green and Vince peeled away as I said "Okay, that was just rude, and a complete waste of food and money to boot."

As I began smoothly accelerating as well, Jack sighed and slumped just a little bit more before pulling himself up and said "Just…leave it."

"You're kidding, right?" The raised eyebrow I wanted to make was obvious in my tone as I continued "We can't let things like this go Jack, failure to respond only tells them that you are a target who won't retaliate and so are free game."

"We also have to follow Optimus' rule. It's not just about protecting humans—you can't harm them, either." Jack said as he looked down the road Vince had turned.

"Who said anything about _harming_?" I asked with a smirk in my voice before my radio turned on and Gabriel Iglesias, aka Fluffy, came on. _"You don't have to yell at a kid to get your point across, you definitely don't have to hit one. All you really have to do to make sure that they never forget the day that they messed up is_ embarrass _them. Embarrassing a kid is the biggest weapon you can have as a parent, that's_ legal _. And it's so much more effective you guys."_ My radio clicked off and I said "Now granted, we're not either of that kid's parents, but the fact remains, once I'm done with him, he won't be able to show his face for months if not _years_ without being laughed at."

Jack let out a nervous swallow as he asked "What do you plan on doing?"

"Let's get this crap off of me then find a public information net access point and I'll show you how effective Elite Guard Cyber Warfare training was." I said with a tone of eager anticipation in my voice.

Time Skip: Forty-Five Minutes Later, Jasper Public Library

After a quick trip through a car wash, we made another quick stop at Jack's house so that way he could grab his laptop before we parked ourselves in the library's parking lot.

Once Jack had his computer up and running, I linked up with it and an image of my bot mode appeared in the bottom left side of it. I cracked my virtual knuckles and twisted my neck side to side as I said "Alright then, let's get started. First things first, we won't be needing any of these." A swipe of my hand had all of the icons on his desktop and said desktop all shooting to the top left of the screen and shrinking in one move much like a Restore Down function of a window leaving nothing but the same light blue as the screens of Ratchet's work station. I grinned as I said "Oh and don't worry about what's coming up being linked to your laptop Jack, I'm not actually using it, merely allowing you to see what's happening. Now then, where is the surveillance network for Jasper? Ah, there you are!"

Hundreds of miniature video screens appeared and I said "Pulling up traffic light camera." The screen that displayed the intersection where Vince had thrown the burger maximized and a line went up Vince's face as I continued "Scanning facial data, facial patterns logged, scanning for personal data. Info found, searching for communication device registered to target…cell phone found, running password decryption program, code cracked, tapping into cell phone settings, changing code combination from four-digit to seven-digit randomized code, voice message info found, scanning voice signature, voice signature copied. Pulling up sound settings, scanning data sharing network for suitably embarrassing sound files…appropriate sound file found, switching ring tone to 'It's Raining Men' by The Weather Girls. Changing sound file to sound like target is the one signing." Jack snorted at that even as he continued watching with wide eyes as visual representations of my cyber manipulations showed on his screen.

My tampering of Vince's cell phone done, I moved onto social media, Vince's Facebook page popping up and the same password decryption program easily allowing me to log into it. I changed his password to another randomized set of nonconsecutive numbers and letters, and set the security question to a convoluted question about a license plate number of his grandmother's third car. "Running de-aging program on target image to infant age, generating images of young target in embarrassing costumes from age three to thirteen." Jack started snickering as a long roll of pictures showing a kid Vince in the kind of embarrassing outfits that parents thought was cute to put toddlers in including sailors outfits, dinosaur costumes, and even a power ranger outfit appeared. I wasn't done yet though, and my avatar on his screen gained an evil grin as I continued "Logging into video media sources, young female entertainment source located, scanning 'Disney Princess' songs, creating videos where target sings songs in corresponding clothing." Jack started to outright howl with laughter as no less than fifteen videos appeared on the screen one after the other with current age Vince in appropriate Disney Princess outfits and the proper sound tracks, with Vince's voice replacing the princesses' of course. Then, just to be thorough, "Adding video of target dressed as a giant tea pot singing 'I'm a little tea pot.'" Then to be absolutely sure that Vince wouldn't be able to show his face anywhere without being laughed out of a building I quickly wrote up a virus that would make his Facebook page appear on the personal computer screen of EVERYONE in Nevada for ten minutes every six hours for the next week.

My avatar tapped his chin in thought as I said "Let's see, what next? Oh, I know!" It snapped its fingers before a bank website popped up and I continued "Accessing target's financial funds. Using funds to purchase high end costumes of each Disney Princess and sending to target's house with requirement of target signing for purchases." Tears were streaming out of Jack's eyes as he pounded my steering wheel with a fist, the teen starting to gasp for air as he continued to laugh.

Scene Change: Outpost Omega 1

Jack was all out of tears as we pulled in back to base. That didn't mean he wasn't still laughing like someone had tossed him into a room chock full of laughing gas as he got out of me though. As Arcee walked over with a confused look on her face, he gasped out "A-Arcee, y-you have got to seheheheheee whahahahat Smohohohokescreen did tohohoho Vince!"

"The bully?" Arcee asked with a raised eyebrow only for her jaw to steadily drop lower as Jack showed her his Facebook page.

I transformed with a mad cackle as I said 'That'll teach the kid to toss a burger at me!"

"Let me get this straight, Vince was being a jerk as usual and so instead of threatening him with your knives you instead hack his social media site?" Arcee asked in a tone that clearly stated that she believed I had learned nothing from earlier today.

"Jack said he's the worst bully at his school, call it karma." I said with a shrug before I made my way out of the common room and into the Energon processing section of the base to see how much of the Red Energon had been processed.

Time Skip: The Next Day

Jack and I were once more driving around Jasper. And while we weren't stuffing pizzas down the tailpipe of his boss' car, we WERE having a bit of fun, namely following behind different cars, taking turns when they did, and just all around making their drivers paranoid before they got to their destinations and we started tailing the next one.

Jack was snickering to himself as we followed an old man driving an equally old Ford pickup truck when I got the message from Ratchet to get my tail pipe back to base ASAP. I quickly turned at the next intersection that lead to the freeway and Jack quickly grew serious as he asked "What's wrong Smokescreen?"

I accelerated down the ramp onto the freeway before accelerating even more when I saw I had an opening even as I said "Trouble apparently, the Doc wants us back pronto."

When we got back to base, I barely waited for Jack to get out before transforming and said "Commander, what's the problem?"

"Our sensors detected a second Iacon-locator beacon, but I can't reach Optimus." Ratchet said turning around toward us at the end.

"I'll go." I said.

"Alone?" Ratchet asked in worried incredulity.

I gave a hum before glancing towards the vault and said "Maybe not." I quickly shot down the hallway and grabbed everything I would need. I came back two minutes later and knelt down as I placed the objects I went to retrieve on the floor. Ratchet's eyes widened as he said "Smokescreen, I cannot allow you to take so many relics out into the field, if the Decepticons get their hands on so many relics at once…"

"Two of them aren't for me." I said as I put the phase shifter on before tapping the Apex Armor as I continued "Jack, we need to see if this will work for you, walk onto the center part, you may have to jump on it in order to activate it."

Jack hesitated for the briefest moment, but before Ratchet could open his mouth to most likely say how STUPID that idea was, Jack quickly got in place and the armor forming around him and shooting him up to my full height had Ratchet cutting off whatever he was about to say with a strangled sounding squeak.

I gave Ratchet a grin and thumbs up as I said "The Armor's controlled by mental command rather than physical motion, remember?" Turning back to Jack, I grabbed the Immobilizer before standing up and held it out to him as I said "So what do you say Jack, think you can be my back up?"

Jack bit his lip before he took a big breath and the Armor's right hand reached up and accepted the weapon as he said "Let's do this."

We both turned to look at Ratchet who after a moment sighed and said "There is going to be scrap to pay once the others learn of this I am sure, but it seems we have no other option. Very well, opening the ground bridge, good luck you two." He turned and quickly moved to the ground bridge controls and pulled the appropriate lever down.

Scene Change: Iacon Relic Coordinates

We came out of the portal with my blasters out. After a quick scan turned up no enemy patrols, I turned them back into hands and punched my right fist into my left palm and said "Let's go grab a relic."

The two of us quickly ran to the coordinates location and took cover behind the outmost boulders that bordered the mountain. A quick glance at the relic had Jack going "Whoa! It's a sword!"

"Not just _any_ sword Jack, that's the Star Saber." I said with a frown, my optics briefly going up before flicking back down as I recited the recalled information. "Iacon historical item Identification Number 00239, Designation, Star Saber, Description, Forged by Solus* Prime, the Star Saber was made to connect with the power of the Matrix of Leadership and therefore its power can only be fully unlocked in the hands of a Prime." Glancing over at Jack, I continued "Extended analysis of the blade showed that it was capable of creating a protective field that only a Prime could turn off. We NEED to get Optimus here now."

"Especially since Megatron's here." Jack said with a gulp and pointing at the Silver Gladiator.

"The Dark Lord himself, yeah, figures he would be present with such an important relic found." I said with a frown before I outright scowled as I saw a hook drop from the bottom of the Nemesis and latch onto the rock the sword was embedded in. "Well that's not good." I put a hand to my communicator and continued "Ratchet, we have eyes on the relic. It's a relic of the Primes known as the Star Saber. The Cons can't get it out of the large stone it's currently in but they're preparing to move it with their ship. You have GOT to get Optimus here pronto!" I cut off the signal before he could respond and looked at Jack as I said "I'll draw their attention, stay on the edges and keep moving, get them from behind whenever you can and don't let the Cons pin you down. Go for the joints if you have to get into hand to hand combat and whatever you do, don't point that thing at me, understood?"

Jack swallowed once even as his eyes steeled in determination as he said "Understood."

I gave him a quick nod before I leapt up onto the top of the boulder we had been hiding behind and then towards the Decepticons. I shifted into car mode and bounced once as I landed before I spun my tires and shot towards the closest Con. He only had time to turn around in surprise before I shifted back into bot mode and dove through him, coming out with his spark chamber in my right hand as I rolled before I shot the next three Cons in front of me. I kept moving at a fast pace as I drew closer to the large grouping of Cons using both rapid fire blaster fire and my knives to carve a path straight to the Star Saber. Once there, I used the handle as a spring board to reach the halfway point of the boulder before I stuck my knives into it using the phase shifter in periodic bursts to quickly climb the rest of the way up. Once up top, I used the phase shifter on the hook causing it to drop the massive rock back onto the ground and then sliced the cable with the knives. It took five tries and was murder on my audio receptors but the roar of rage from Megatron when he saw what I did was _extremely_ satisfying.

With the cons no longer able to move the large stone until they replaced the hook, I dropped to and then shot off the stone, blaster fire passing harmlessly through me thanks to the phase shifter. I came out of my dive in a roll and launched myself at the nearest Con, a Vehicon Drone, doing a hand stand on his head and shooting him with my free hand before I tossed the corpse at another Vehicon before I spun around an Insecticon that tried to ambush me from above only to get five rapid shots in the head dropping him. I finished my spin and pushed off my right foot into another dive and shifted into car mode. I roared towards Megatron and dodged all of the blaster shots he fired from his gun before I drove through him and immediately shifted as soon as I passed his legs and tried to ram my right knife into his back. Megatron caught the knife blade on his sword as he spun around though and he gave me a feral grin as he said "I don't know who you are, Autobot, but I am going to enjoy ripping you apart."

"That's only if you can make your attacks stick." I countered before I shot my other knife under our blade lock. Megatron was quick to do a flourishing swipe that broke the lock and deflected the second blade as well before his cannon fired a shot towards my right knee. The bolt harmlessly passed through thanks to the Phase Shifter before I turned solid again and tried to take another swipe at him. This set the pattern for the next two minutes of our fight: Megatron was too good of a fighter for me to get either a knife strike or blaster shot on him but he couldn't make anything stick either thanks to the Phase Shifter's ability to be mentally activated. Eventually though my rookie-ness made itself known and I made a mistake.

I tried to block an overhead swing from Megatron with a cross block with plans of using the block to hook a leg around one of Megatron's ankles only for my optics to widen as his blade shattered my much inferior blades. Megatron took that one instant of shock to slam a powerful punch into my torso and I was flung back and hit the ground skidding on my back before I backflipped onto my feet and used one broken knife blade to stop my remaining momentum while the other hand rubbed my dented chest armor as I said "Ooow."

Megatron gave a chuckle as he retook his starting stance and said "Ah, it's been a while since I fought a member of the Elite Guard, I forgot how much fun the challenge of fighting an Autobot with your combat style could be. And you've made the fight even better with the Phase Shifter."

"High praise coming from the Silver Gladiator himself." I said as I dropped my now useless knife handles and adopted an unarmed stance.

"What is your name Autobot? I would like to know it so that way I can place it on a plaque next to your head, in order to better remember the fight where a non-Prime gave me so much trouble." Megatron asked with a grin.

Narrowing my optics, I said "It's Smokescreen, and I wouldn't be so sure about taking my head _yet_."

Blaster fire gave credence to my words as the rest of the Autobots sans Prime pulled a Dues Ex Machina and came charging in blasters firing and taking out all of the Cons who had been watching our fight.

"Where's Optimus?!" Megatron asked desperately before he shot his head towards the Star Saber and let out a roar of rage as he saw Optimus finish pulling it out. He rushed towards Optimus firing his cannon as he went only for Optimus to deflect the first three shots before firing a wave of energy at Megatron which slammed into him and threw him up into the air. Megatron flipped backwards through the air three times before he shifted into Jet Mode and fired at Optimus before he had to dodge another energy wave and retreated back to the Nemesis, the few remaining flyers doing the same. I saw the Nemesis' guns come out of their housings and turn towards us but a third energy wave destroyed them before a fourth and final strike took out one of Nemesis' engines and it was forced to retreat or suffer more damage. I couldn't help but grin to myself as I thought 'And THAT'S why he's a Prime!'

Scene Change: Omega Outpost One

As we exited the ground bridge portal, I shook my head and said "Man, I knew the Star Saber was powerful, but it still surprised me to see its energy blade ability."

"You know what surprised me? After everything you've been told, you _still_ put a human in danger! Of all the reckless and scrap brained ideas!" Arcee said acidly as she stalked towards me.

"Excuse me?!" I asked, not needing to fake the apoplectic rage in my optics as I spun around. Arcee actually began taking a step back in fear for every step I myself took as I turned her stalk back on herself and said "Get off that high horse of yours and let's get one thing straight Arcee, I may be a rookie, but that doesn't mean I don't think things through! You and the rest of the Autobots were unreachable when Ratchet picked up the second Iacon beacon. That meant that the only ones who could do a scrapping thing about keeping the Cons from getting an unknown relic was him, me and, Jack. We HAD to investigate but Ratchet could not go. If our one and only medic went into the field and was taken out then the Cons would pick us off one by one through accumulated injuries and there'd be nothing we could do about it. And Elite Guard training or not, you NEVER send a lone soldier into the field if you can avoid it." We hit the wall right next to the ground bridge at that point and I put my arms on either side of her blocking her in as I continued "So yes, I took Jack into the field, but in case your optics have been off line ever since you got to the battle field, he's currently wearing the Apex Armor to keep him safe and holding the Immobilizer so that he could take out the Cons from a distance. I may have only had him as an option for backup but by Primus I ensured he could safely do the job. Now kindly shut up and for once consider the fact that rookie or not, I am an Elite Guard and thus am not a child and I know what I'm doing."

I spun away from her with an angry huff before I stalked over to Jack and using the Phase Shifter gently reached through the Apex Armor and pulled him out before I tapped the on/off switch of the armor causing it to collapse into its form and drop onto the cement. I gently put him down on the ground before looking up as Optimus walked towards me.

The Prime had a frown on his face as I stood to attention and he said "Smokescreen, while I dislike the actions you took in bringing Jack into a combat situation, I nevertheless must concede to your point of having no other options. Your actions of ensuring he would remain unharmed were the best actions you could take in this scenario. You did well with what you had to work with."

I felt a thrum of pride at that even as Optimus continued "That said, do not be so harsh with Arcee, while your words have merit, she was merely concerned for the well-being of her charge."

"Yes sir." I said with a nod before I straightened just the slightest bit more as the Star Saber began glowing.

Optimus cocked his head as he held the sword in an upright position. After a moment of silence, Ratchet said "Optimus, speak to me!" When he didn't reply, the medic said more urgently "Optimus!"

"I am receiving a message." Optimus said, his voice becoming slightly double toned.

"From whom?" Ratchet asked as everyone drew closer.

Optimus blinked several times, the Prime equivalent of absolute shock as he said "Alpha Trion."

END

Author's Notes: Please vote on the poll on my profile, its results will play an extremely important role in Marching Beside The King.

*I know I've been calling the Prime Solis all this time, but subtitles from Netflix has it as Solus so my bad!


	4. Chapter 4

4\. Upgrades

Quick Reply To A Guest's Review Before We Begin

stickynote56 chapter 3 . Sep 24, 2017

can't wait for next part, and ending at a cliffhanger you sneaky author you.

To Stickynote56: _**I**_ did not end on a cliffhanger. If you watched the episode Legacy before then you would know that I ended exactly where the show did, not a letter/second sooner.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the part you guys actually care about, shall we?

Previously On Flesh to Metal Version 2"

" _I am receiving a message." Optimus said, his voice becoming slightly double toned._

" _From whom?" Ratchet asked as everyone drew closer._

 _Optimus blinked several times, the Prime equivalent of absolute shock as he said "Alpha Trion."_

Now:

I watched Optimus listening to the message with a frown. On the one hand, I had already told Optimus about the Omega Keys so was there really any point to Alpha Trion giving him the same information? But on the other, the Big A _was_ a bot capable of somewhat accurate decryptions of the Covenant of Primus which detailed both past and future events so it could be a completely different message from before if he thought I would have told Optimus already. Without knowing what Alpha Trion knew, it was impossible to accurately guess the content of the message besides what was shown in the show. I was drawn from my thoughts as Optimus sagged, almost dropping the Star Saber as he groaned.

"Easy, Optimus." Ratchet said as he put a hand on his shoulder.

"What was the message?" Bulkhead asked eagerly.

Optimus blinked a couple of times before he straightened and looked towards me as he said "Alpha Trion spoke of the Omega Keys." Everyone turned to look at me as well before their attention was brought back to Optimus as he continued "And he also gave me a warning: Be wary of the Word Crafter, for he has the power to change the world to his whims, for better or for worst."

While everyone else looked between each other in confusion I swear my whole body froze in absolute shock. Word Crafter, an ANCIENT term for story teller or author, which was what _**I**_ had been before I woke up in a metal suit I couldn't take off. Alpha Trion KNEW what I was, and apparently thought I could have been a big enough threat to the Earth that he put a warning in what was essentially his last words. Or, maybe not. Alpha Trion hadn't actually named me after all. Still, I needed to tread _very_ carefully here. If Optimus and the rest of the Bots got it in their heads that I was some kind of threat to the Earth, then they would most likely stick me in a stasis container right next to Airachnid's for Primus knows how long and the Decepticons would most likely win the war politically within a MONTH after they tracked down the Omega Keys, and even sooner if Megatron killed Optimus in Egypt in the next twenty four hours.

Shaking my head from those thoughts, I began leaving the common room only to stop ten steps later as Ratchet said "And where do you think you're going Smokescreen?"

Turning halfway around, I held up my broken knives and said "We already knew about the Keys, and there's nothing to be done about Alpha Trion's warning when we don't know who this 'Word Crafter' is. Therefore, I'm going to go to our machine shop and replace these as well as finish a couple of my side projects while I wait for Optimus to finish decoding the rest of the Iacon database. Unless any of you have a problem with that?"

No one did, but Ratchet narrowed his eyes and said "Inform me when that project you spoke to me about is ready. I will not have you tampering with your innards recklessly."

"The moment it's done I'll com you." I promised before I turned back towards the hallway and left the room.

Time Skip: Sixteen Hours Later

Everyone was once more in the common room as we waited for Optimus to finish his decoding. My left hand ghosted over the once more checked out Phase shifter before both hands' fingers idly fingered the hilts of my upgraded knives as I watched Optimus make one final keystroke before the final part of the coordinate joined the others and he said "The coordinates for the first Omega Key entry has been decoded. Divide into teams in the event that I am able to decode another before the first team returns."

"I'm going, as the last remaining guard of Iacon it's my responsibility to make sure Megatron doesn't get his hands on any more relics. Who's coming with me?" I asked as I stepped up, both literally and figuratively.

"I'll go." Arcee said in a slightly firm tone of voice, but more like one who needed to do this for herself than someone watching over someone they believed likely to make a mistake.

I studied her for a brief moment before I nodded and walked to the ground bridge as I said "Commander, if you would?"

"Right." Ratchet said as he pulled the lever for the Ground Bridge and Arcee and I walked through.

Scene Change: Egypt

We came out with blasters out. After a quick sweep, I said "Area's clear, looks like Optimus beat Soundwave this time."

"And the Key should be riiight there!" Arcee said as she moved her scanner to one of the pyramids where it began rapidly beeping. We walked towards the pyramid in silence for a bit before Arcee gave a deep sigh and said "Smokescreen, I owe you an apology."

Blinking at this turnaround from the show that I certainly wasn't expecting, I glanced over to her and said "Go on."

"You were right to be angry at me questioning your judgement. In the short time since you have joined our team you have provided wise counsel and have been a big help in the field as well, and yesterday you turned a bad circumstance into a workable plan with how you brought Jack along. It's just that I've been protecting him for so long that I can't help but get angry if I think he's been carelessly put into harm's way, and with the actions you took with dealing with that driver and Vince you kind of came off as, well.."

Grinning at the chance to use a saying from one of my _favorite_ One Piece fics back when I was a human, I said "A ding-a-ling? A goofball? A Knucklehead McSpazatron?"

Arcee blinked up at me in surprise for a moment before she nodded slightly stiffly and said "Yeah, let's go with that."

Letting out a chuckle, I said "Don't worry, I understand Arcee, after all, I read the mission reports dealing with Airachnid." I started walking again as I called over my shoulder "But just because he's a human, doesn't mean that Jack can't contribute, think about that for a while."

Arcee remained silent for the rest of the time it took us to find the stone depicting two ancient Egyptians holding the Key and I said "Well that's helpful."

"Come on, give me a hand." Arcee said putting away the scanner and we began pulling the big block of stone out, grunting with every tug before it was free of the wall and I pushed it to the side while Arcee reached in for the Key.

Looking down at it, I grinned and said "Omega Key number two."

Arcee returned my grin as she said "Come on, let's get dirt side so we can call in a bridge."

I followed her out of the temple before we stopped at the exit at the sight of Megatron. He coolly studied us as he said "The relic."

I snorted as I moved in front of Arcee and said "I don't think so, ready for round two?" I pulled my new daggers out and with a push of a small button the daggers split in two places showing that they were sword catching katars.

The sight of them had Megatron grinning as he said "I see you've gotten an upgrade Smokescreen. I too have made some improvements to my arsenal." He pulled the Dark Star Saber from his back and said "I am indeed ready for 'round two'." The next instant, he gave a horizontal slash of his sword and a wave of energy rushed towards us. I took a step back and made physical contact with Arcee in order to allow the wave to pass through us thanks to the Phase Shifter. As debris shot out from the impact point, I shouted "Get the relic out of here, I'll hold him off!"

I ignored Arcee's alarmed "Smokescreen!" as I leapt forward, right knife holstered and blaster firing to cover my charge forcing Megatron to deflect the shots before he did a kendo style overhead slash that I quick drew my right knife in order to catch in both katars' split sections. I grunted as I stopped the purple blade just over my helm and grinned as I said "These blades are better made than those pieces of aluminum foil I took off your dead prison guard Megatron."

"So I see, you have made them well for the limited time you had since our last encounter." Megatron said with a blood thirsty grin before he tried to spartan kick me.

His foot phased through me and I twisted my knives to force his sword to the left and down as I said "Thanks, you don't seem like a bad blacksmith yourself!" I spun around the bigger Con and tried to ram my left elbow into his back only for Megatron to side step out of range and slashed the area of my torso in a blatantly obvious side to side sweep. I almost allowed it to phase through when I saw the smirk on the bastard's face and my instincts screamed at me. Leaping back in a back flip, I grunted in slight pain as the tip of the sword grazed my back _while I was phase shifted_!? Continuing my flip, I landed and reached behind me with wide eyes. My hand came back with drops of blue liquid on it and I said "How the hell?"

Megatron let out a dark chuckle as he said "I remembered how much trouble you gave to me in our last encounter and so took precautions in the event we fought again. You can no longer ignore my attacks young Guardsman, not while I have this blade in my hands!"

I narrowed my eyes and said "Well then in that case, I just don't have to be in range of that blade." I quick sheathed my knives and began rapidly firing at Megatron, my Elite Guard's training turning my two blasters into a squadron's worth. The look of slightly flustered concentration on Megatron's face as he constantly swung the Dark Star Saber to deflect my shots along with how he had to constantly step around what shots he couldn't deflect were rather satisfying. Of course, Megatron tried to get closer to me but for every step he took towards me I took back. We were in another stalemate, I couldn't actually get through his defense and he couldn't ignore my blaster fire in order to rush me with his sword. Thankfully our stalemate didn't last long.

A single shot of blaster fire impacting Megatron's back interrupted our seemingly eternal dance and he let out a shout of surprised pain that only got louder when five of my shots managed to get through. I would have kept firing but Optimus' order of "Smokescreen, fall back!" had me cease my rapid fire barrage in order to allow Optimus to safely charge in without worry of friendly fire. _HE_ didn't have a Phase Shifter to negate that after all, and oh boy, was Optimus **PISSED**.

"Megatron, your revival of Cybertron's dead showed you had no respect for them, but to take the limb of one such being for your own is a new low, even for you! Have you no limits to the depravity which you will lower yourself?!" Optimus was all but shouting at the end of his little speech, his blade a blur of death and I swear I saw small amounts of blue fire flickering around both it and him much like how Megatron sometimes had it when in the presence of massive amounts of Dark Energon.

"I shall do whatever I please if it means finally securing your destruction, Optimus Prime!" Megatron roared even as he was forced to constantly back step. Unfortunately for him, that back stepping lead him right to me.

"Funny." I said as my hand shot through his transplanted hand and wrapped around the Dark Star Saber's hilt. "So will I." The next instant, the massive sword dropped out of Megatron's hand and I grinned at the bewildered look Megatron had before I pushed the blade as far into the sand as I could before letting go. Megatron would have to dig for at least a few minutes to reach the weapon. A few minutes _he didn't have_.

Megatron's shock turned to anger and he yelled in outrage only to get blasted away by Optimus' swing of the Star Saber unleashing a blue wave of energy, the blast harmlessly passing through me thanks to the Phase Shifter. He recovered in the air and transformed, trying to shoot at Optimus but just like when I was shooting at the Silver Gladiator, the Last Prime deflected the shots before firing another blue wave at the Con. Megatron let out another roar of anger as he said "This isn't over Prime!" The jet then turned away and blasted off into the distance.

I blinked in absolute shock as I thought 'Holy crap, I actually managed to steal the Dark Star Saber from Megatron's hand.' My eyes then narrowed as I thought 'Well, not his ACTUAL hand, but still. Too bad we couldn't cut it off, he'll probably just make a new one.'

I was brought out of my thoughts as Optimus said "Smokescreen, that was incredibly reckless." Turning to look at him, I saw the trace amounts of pride in his optics as he continued "But you have once more proven your valor, and in doing so, robbed Megatron of a valuable weapon, well done."

Giving a sigh, I said "Thanks Optimus, but I think he's just going to make another one."

"True, but at least now we know that Megatron is capable of such a feat, which we did not know before now." Optimus said before he knelt down and began removing the sand in order to reveal the Dark Star Saber.

"Here, let me." I said as I reached through the sand and grasped the hilt. Groaning at the strain, I pulled the weapon handle up before letting go with a huff and said "Man that's heavy."

Optimus held the hilt and easily pulled the sword out of the ground (Making me feel slightly like the nerdy high school student standing next to the Captain of the Football team), and studied the dark sword for a moment before he nodded once and said "With Megatron's weapon secured, we should return back to base. There are still two more Omega Keys to find after all."

"No arguments here." I said and soon we were walking back through the glowing green portal. This crucial battle was won, but the war was most certainly not over yet.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule On Profile

I honestly had more trouble with the last page than I really should have. Still, I think I can leave it as it is without too many regrets.


	5. Chapter 5

5\. Upping The Game

Story Start: In The Ground Bridge, Directly After The Last Chapter

Optimus and I walked side by side as we returned to base. After a moment of silence, I glanced out of the corner of my eye up at him, or more specifically, at the giant purple sword on his back. Sighing, I stopped walking and said "Optimus, permission to speak freely?"

"Of course Smokescreen." Optimus said as he too stopped and turned around, though there was confusion in his optics as he did so.

Giving off another sigh, I fully straightened my stance as I said "Optimus, I would never assume that I could perform your duties as the leader of Team Prime better than you. However, going over mission reports, I have found that you do not utilize every advantage you have when this team fights the Decepticons." Gesturing behind me, I continued "Given what we have witnessed back there, it is clear that Megatron now has the capabilities of forging weapons equal to or greater than the Star Saber. We can no longer afford to not utilize every advantage we have in the upcoming fights. And while I'd say we're no where near a point where I would suggest using the Spark Extractor, with the fate of Cybertron's restoration relying on us acquiring the last two Omega keys before the Decepticons, can we really afford not to use the other weapons in our vault?" I took the Phase Shifter off of my arm and held it up as I said "Without this device, there is a rather high chance that either Arcee or me would no longer be alive, maybe even both of us. I can understand not wanting to risk the weapons falling into Decepticon hands, but if that fear leads to the serious harm or death of an Autobot when it could have been avoided, then what good are they?"

Optimus studied me silently for a long minute, and I did my best to meet his gaze head on without blinking. After a moment, Optimus nodded and said "You speak with words of wisdom that belie how young you are, Smokescreen. Very well, the other weapons in our vault shall be distributed amongst the others. Was there anything else you wished to discuss?"

I shook my head and said "No sir, that was everything."

"Very well, then, let us continue back to base." Optimus said before turning around and continued walking. I followed after him, noticing that Optimus' stance as he walked seemed rather pensive. Unbidden, Alpha Trion's warning played through my mind and if I had lips I would have bit them as I wondered if I had just given myself away. I shook my head free of those thoughts though. What I had said had needed to be said, therefore there was no use in worrying about what ideas I may or may not have given the Prime.

When we came out of the tunnel, Ratchet was the first one by us as he said "Optimus, Smokescreen, are you injured?"

"We are unharmed old friend, thanks once again to Smokescreen's quick thinking." Optimus said calmly.

"I see." Ratchet said giving me a look of confused consideration before he looked back at Optimus and noticed the second sword hilt poking over his shoulders and hearing the rather unnatural sound that Dark Energon seemed to constantly make for no reason that I could ever determine other than just being part of pure evil. Gaining a weary look as the other Autobots came closer, he said "Optimus, what is that on your back?"

Optimus pulled the Dark Star Saber off of his back and put it point down on the ground as he said "Megatron now has the ability to use the Forge of Solus Prime." All of the other Bots gasped in shock at that as he continued "This was his first creation, and given what Smokescreen and I witnessed, it is clear that Megatron made his own version of the Star Saber out of _Dark Energon_."

"How in the name of Cybertron did you get it away from him?! And completely unscathed as well!" Ratchet asked in astonishment.

Optimus gestured to me with a proud smile and said "Like I said, thanks to Smokescreen's quick thinking."

If I was human, I'd be blushing right now as everyone turned their incredulous stares towards me. Shrugging, I said "All I did was sneak up on the guy while he was fighting and used the Phase Shifter to get it out of his hand and temporarily bury it in the sand until he left."

Bulkhead let out a boisterous laugh and said "'All you did?' Kid, that's literally right up there with Bumblebee snatching the Spark Extractor from the Buckethead's hand!"

Bumblebee gave me a thumb's up at Bulkhead's words while Arcee shook her head and said "First you duel with Megatron on your own, and then you actually have the gears to steal his super weapon right out of his hand. It's official, you're the Cybertronian equivalent of Miko when it comes to being an Adrenaline Junkie."

I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it. I gave Arcee my best demented grin and said "You say that like that's a bad thing."

Arcee actually face palmed and shook her head as she said "Every time I think he's mature, he goes and does something like this." I couldn't help but snicker at that earning me a half-glare from the Fem of Team Prime.

"Smokescreen's desire for excitement notwithstanding, he brought up a valid point to me on the way back to the base." Optimus said calmly. When everyone was looking at him again, he continued "He has pointed out, correctly, that we have not been utilizing our full arsenal against the Decepticons, merely because we have been afraid that the Decepticons might capture said weapons. This combined with Megatron's new capacity for creating weapons of mass destruction, means that from now on everyone who goes out into the field shall do so equipped with one of the weapons contained in the vault." Everyone else nodded, though Ratchet had a slight bit of indecision in his optics. The Medic kept his silence though and Optimus nodded before he picked up the Dark Star Saber and headed for the vault to put away the literal bane of his blood.

As the other Autobots shuffled out of the room after him debating which weapon they would use, I idly ran a hand over my own weapon and thought 'Hopefully this will still be a viable weapon, though I'm not holding my unneeded breath. If Megatron could make a blade that worked against it one time…' I shook my head from those thoughts. There was more than one way to weaponize a Phase Shifter. It was much like a Devil Fruit from the One Piece series in that way, the only limitations on it were the ones I myself placed on it.

Leaning against a nearby wall, I watched as Optimus came back into the room to work on decoding the Iacon database. It was really the only thing I could do for now.

Time Skip: Noon, The Next Day

I wasn't part of the team that went for the third Omega Key.

It rankled me something fierce, even though I had an inkling that would happen thanks to the show. I was the _last guard of Iacon_ , those Keys were MY responsibility! My optics blazed in my helm as I paced in front of the Ground Bridge. Bulkhead had tried to comfort me after I had silently watched Bumblebee and Arcee follow Optimus into the Ground Bridge, calling it a pit stop and saying that we would get back into the race, but like I said, that hadn't been what was bothering me.

Despite having his name, I was NOT Smokescreen, I wasn't trying to become some almighty warrior, only looking for fame and glory, having my name permanently written in the book of history. What I was though, was someone who took their job extremely seriously. Not to mention, if there was the slightest chance that the Sonic Resonator was going to be in play again then I had one of the best tools to not only make it useless but also to put Knock Out in a wall just a little bit earlier, if only one made out of rock rather than Cybertronian metal.

Ratchet had chosen the route of diving head first into his Synthetic Energon research while waiting, judiciously ignoring the pacing that I was doing, Bulkhead was nervously watching me from across the room after I had stared him into submission during my cool and collected explanation of why I had felt I belonged on the team that went out to retrieve the key.

I was drawn out of my thoughts, okay, brooding, by Ratchet suddenly moving for the Ground Bridge and reactivating it. I glanced at him with a frown before turning to the bridge. The sight of Bumblebee and Arcee walking out dejectedly with Optimus behind him, a rather large hole in his shoulder armor and a blade less Star Saber was NOT comforting.

"What happened?!" Ratchet snapped as he quickly came over and began scanning Optimus.

"Megatron made a pair of new weapons, he seemed to take inspiration from Smokescreen since they were a pair of Sais." Arcee said bitterly and I winced at that. Yeah, I figured Megatron would go for a pair of weapons this time rather than just one, but Sais, the weapons nicknamed Sword Snappers? Yeah, even I hadn't thought he would go that route, though I really should have expected him to upon further thought.

" **Not to mention he had about a dozen Insecticons outfitted with some seriously heavy firepower to keep us busy. Even with me using the Polarity Gauntlet and Arcee using the Apex Armor we couldn't deal with them fast enough to help Optimus in his fight and get the Omega Key at the same time."** Bumblebee stated in a dejected manner.

"Do you mean that Megatron currently has one of the four Keys we need to revitalize our home world?!" Ratchet demanded.

"Not good." I said with gritted teeth.

"While our quest to restore our planet may have reached a stalemate, securing the final Key is still the most prudent course of action." Optimus said.

"Agreed, but no more splitting into teams. Megatron's brought his A game, it's time we do the same." I all but growled.

"That's not your call to make Smokescreen." Arcee said not unkindly, though with slightly narrowed optics.

"THE SCRAP IT ISN'T!" I yelled, causing everyone to jerk back, even Optimus, as I clenched my fists and said in a quieter but still magma hot tone "We knew, we KNEW that Megatron was capable of making high powered weaponry. _Of_ _course_ he was going to not only upgrade his own weaponry but also mass produce new weapons for his troops! We should have gone out there with everything we had! Maybe then, Optimus wouldn't be down a Relic of the Primes and we'd have three out of the four keys we need to bring our planet out of the grave this _stupid_ war put it in!"

If I was still a human, tears of frustration and anger would have started forming in my eyes, though I wouldn't have allowed them to fall. It didn't matter that I had seen in the show everything working out in the end. This was _real life_ , not a television show, we couldn't _afford_ to rely on that knowledge, not with how many paths were available to the future in this multiverse. For all I knew, Megatron could now somehow use the key he acquired to make a new set with the Forge of Solus Prime and use THOSE keys to use the Omega Lock and declare us all war criminals, leading to a mass invasion of Earth from well-meaning but misguided civilian Cybertronians that we would eventually be forced to slaughter if we didn't want to wind up in the Cybertronian equivalent of nooses.

"Smokescreen, we WILL recover the Omega Key. We have infiltrated the War Ship before, we shall do so again, all we have to do is be patient for the opportunity to present itself and ensure that we get the final key before Megatron does." Optimus said trying to calm me down.

I didn't want to be calm to be honest. Instead, I let out a growl like my old Rottweiler Apollo used to give when I'd try to take his cow hide chew toy before I gave an explosive sigh and walked away towards our shooting range. I needed to shoot at something before I did something I'd really regret. As I walked out of the command room I barely heard the start of a new conversation but I didn't stop walking, afraid that I'd do more than strike out with my words alone if I stayed a moment longer.

(Point of View Change: With The Others)

"Wow, and I thought he was mad when he was kept from going." Bulkhead said in amazement, and if he was honest with himself, just the smallest bit of fear.

"Smokescreen is young still, and on top of that, feels rather strongly that anything dealing with Iacon is his responsibility." Optimus said calmly even as he moved for his station to begin decrypting the next, and for them, final encryption of the Iacon database. They already knew where the 'fourth' key had been hidden after all.

"But still, the way he went off the rails like that. Not even when I accused him of being reckless with Jack did he get so mad." Arcee said with a shudder.

"He certainly feels that we made a grave mistake, not sending all of you out into the field this time." Ratchet mused as he looked in the direction of their newest recruit.

" **It doesn't help that we can say he was once more right."** Bumblebee added quietly.

"We'll just have to hope that obtaining the final Key well help calm him down some." Ratchet said with a frown. He was used to Smokescreen being a calm if fun loving soldier, this angry side, even after being seen for a second time was a rather startling contrast to how he normally acted.

"I hope so, I don't think the base will last if he stays that mad all the time." Bulkhead said with a small shudder.

" **At the very least we'll need new targets in the firing range soon."** Bumblebee said.

"The sooner we get that last key, the better." Arcee said in agreement.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll in my Profile

This is Part One of a two-part Episode Covering Chapter. Do not expect this to happen again.

You know, it surprises even me sometimes at the directions my stories go, I had two different versions of this episode that I had considered using but then this came up behind me while I was writing and practically held me at gun point demanding I write it this way. Which is why I decided to split this episode into two so that way it didn't get too long.


	6. Chapter 6

6\. Speed Kills

Author's Notes: Part Two of the Transformers Prime Episode Hard Knocks

I had limited myself to only firing a hundred shots down the range, the first seventy five Elite Guard style while the last twenty five had been single shots. It had been enough to get the edge off of my rage. For the rest of it, I followed Agents of SHIELD Special Agent Melinda Mei's advice, mining and storing it for the fight that I knew was coming up. As such, when Optimus decoded the last set of the database we needed, and Ratchet immediately pulled the lever after, I was right at the ground bridge ready to go.

I came out _just_ as a beeping noise sounded and I narrowed my optics as I thought 'Dreadwing. The question is, does he have company or not.' As the others came out of the bridge, I tried to find the Flyer, sure that he would try to grand stand a little before triggering the bombs that were around us.

"No signs of Decepticons." Arcee said as she scanned the area and I wanted to face palm so badly it was like a physical itch on my helm and hand.

Thankfully, Dreadwing was more than willing to prove her wrong as he walked forward to stand at the top of a small for us cliff as he said "I wouldn't be so certain of that, Autobot!"

"Dreadwing!" Bulkhead snarled out before he said "Scrap!" as the Flyer transformed and made a dive bomb run on us forcing us all to duck down.

As Dreadwing flew away, another beeping sound rang out, this one at a much faster pace and I called out "Everyone grab me, now!" The others did as I ordered and we all dropped down underground as the Phase Shifter activated. Not two seconds later the bombs detonated.

I waited until the Earth above us stopped shuddering before I made us slowly raise back up and whistled at the sight of burning forest all around us and said "Oh boy, the park rangers are going to be pissed."

"This area is not part of a park Smokescreen." Optimus stoically pointed out though I was _sure_ there was the barest hints of amusement in the tone of his voice.

"Forget the nonexistent park rangers, we've got company!" Arcee snapped as Dreadwing came back, this time with friends.

The flyer led a squadron of twelve Insecticons which transformed in midair as they came in for a landing, Dreadwing pulling out his giant gun while all of the Insecticons held what looked like honest to Primus Type-58 Fuel Rod Cannons from the Halo franchise. My optics widened at the sight of the Cannons, and I yelled out "Get to cover!" As the rest of the Autobots did as ordered, I began laying down a blistering barrage of cover fire while sprinting to the left. The Insecticons immediately focused on the only Autobot shooting at them, aka ME, giving the Autobots time to get appropriate cover while the Insecticons wasted their ammunition on a target that they couldn't hit. Unfortunately, Dreadwing was smarter and began firing at the Autobots degrading said cover, but I'd leave him for the others and deal with the much bigger threat of those Fuel Rod Cannons, which turned out to be much easier when one of my bolts went a little bit more to the left than I had intended. Instead of slamming into the heavily armored Insecticon, the bolt hit his cannon right down the barrel. Apparently, the Type-58 Fuel Rod Cannon doesn't actually _like_ getting hit by an energon bolt there and the device promptly exploded taking out not only the Insecticon holding it but the one on either side of the firing line as well.

I skidded to a stop at the sight and said "Huh, well that happened." I then gained a rather demented grin as I pulled out a grenade that I had grabbed earlier and flicked out the pin with my thumb and said "Fire in the hole bugs!" The next moment, the grenade was chucked scattering the firing line. The two closest bugs didn't get far enough away and their cannons detonated as the ammo was ignited killing them as well. If anything though, that just made the other nine fire their rounds that much quicker, though they had done the smart thing and added their fire at the other Autobots. Not that it mattered, a quick swipe of the Immobilizer held by Bulkhead took them out of the game, though Dreadwing was quick to jump in the air in order to avoid it.

I aimed my blasters upwards to shoot at the descending Flyer only to hear Optimus call out "Smokescreen, Bumblebee, secure the Omega Key! We shall deal with Dreadwing!"

"Yes sir/ **On it boss!** " The two of us yelled before transforming into our vehicle modes and peeled out of the battle field at a solid hundred and ten miles, rapidly eating up ground as we rushed towards the target coordinates even as we barely avoided the massive trees around us.

We reached the target coordinates within minutes. I wordlessly assumed a guarding position and Bumblebee took that as his cue to start digging into the cliffside we had arrived at. With his back turned to me, Bumblebee never noticed the effects of one of my little projects activating. He wouldn't get to see the results either. Even as my eyes bled red as a canister in my chest compartment emptied out one of its two doses of red energon, I saw Starscream rapidly approaching, bright red optics locked on me and right hand ready to spear through my spark chamber.

The sight of Starscream's optics widening as I snapped my hands up and grabbed his wrist stopping his sharp digits a mere inch from my spark chamber would forever more be one I held dear in my spark. Grinning at him, I said "You aren't the only one with Red Energon Screamy-boy!" The next instant, I gave him a helm rattling round house kick that threw him away from me and drew my Katars, keeping them in their single blade configurations for now.

Starscream shook the ringing out of his audio processers before he scowled at me and said "You're not the only one with a fancy wrist mounted device Smokescreen!" As he fired his missile, I idly mused to myself 'huh, I was wondering if I'd ever hear that quote from him.' I had time to think that because when the missile fired it _slooowly_ came off its rail making its way towards me at a pace that would make a tortoise impatient.

"What?!" Starscream said in alarm as we both watched the missile slowly travel in front of him.

"Oh Starscream, Starscream, Starscream." I said shaking my head with a grin. "Don't you know? Anything that's not attached to our body and that we don't actually throw will move at its normal speed. Meaning neither your missiles or our blasters are effective right now." Holding up my blades menacingly, I gained a grin that would have made the Grim Reaper nervous as I continued "Now these on the other hand…" The blades opened with a menacing click and Starscream let out a screech of fear as he turned around and began to run away. I immediately shot after him, being sure to nudge the still flying missile so that way it would land _away_ from Bumblebee's position. As Starscream ran, he tried to pull out the Ground Bridge remote, only to let out a louder scream of fear as my refolded right Katar hit its screen dead center knocking it out of his spiky digits and making him run even faster.

I rolled in order to pull my knife out of the dropped Ground Bridge remote, transforming in the process into my vehicle mode and pulling ahead of Starscream before screeching into a turning stop and transformed. I slammed a punch into Starscream's face hard enough he flew back a good hundred feet before a tree _tried_ to stop him only to explode into splinters as the hyper speed projectile demolished it. I quickly sprinted after the coward and pounced on his downed form, Katars ready to pierce his metal hide. Starscream let out yet another scream of fear as he rolled out of the way and scrabbled to his feet.

I didn't even bother pulling my knives out of the ground, instead grabbing Starscream's feet with my hands as he turned around to run again and pulling, causing the Con to fall to the ground again with a yell of surprise. Standing up, I swung the Con around and through the trunk of another nearby tree before I swung him up, then down onto the ground hard enough that coupled with my hyper speed cratered the ground. Suddenly feeling the red energon wear off and knowing that Starscream's _had_ to be fully worn off by now, I pinned Starscream to the ground with my foot and formed my blasters as I said coldly "Any last words?"

Starscream's optics were as wide as possible as he whimpered out "No-oo-oo! Please, have mercy!"

"Like you had mercy for Cliff Jumper?" I asked with a sneer. I didn't even give Starscream a chance to answer that, I simply fired as many shots as I could in a twenty second burst, a dozen bolts of energy coming from each blaster. When I stopped firing, my blasters were smoking and swiss cheese didn't even begin to describe the top half of Starscream's body.

" **Damn dude, that was brutal."** Bumblebee said, causing me to snap my blasters towards where he was standing and he instantly raised his hands up in surrender, the fourth and final Omega Key held in his right hand. As soon as they had been leveled at him, I turned my blasters skywards before they transformed back into my hands.

Sighing, I said "Go ahead, tell me I shouldn't have done that."

" **I'm not Optimus Smoke, and this is war. Plus, that jerk shot my T-cog, the only reason why I'm not kicking his corpse once or twice is that it is highly disrespectful to the dead."** Bumblebee said as he walked over.

I let out a single chuckle before I said "Fair enough." Putting a finger to my com unit, I pressed it as I said "Smokescreen to Optimus, Objective secured, along with the termination of Starscream."

"Understood, Dreadwing has also been terminated. Rendezvous at our coordinates." Optimus said calmly and I gave my acknowledgement before turning off my Coms. Looking down at Starscream's corpse, I gave a deep sigh and said to myself "Well, you won't be a pain in our backsides any longer now will you?"

" **Nope."** Bumblebee cheerfully chirped before the two of us transformed and drove away to rejoin the others.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my Profile.

A little shorter than the previous chapter, true, but I still felt like it deserved its own part.


	7. Chapter 7

7\. Crafting The Last Words Of The War

The mood as we returned through the ground bridge was much more upbeat than the last time the team had went Key hunting. Starscream had been a Primus damned _pike_ in everyone's side for eons, and Dreadwing hadn't been much better. Having both killed, _and_ securing the final Omega key in the same sortie was quite the moral booster. As the others celebrated in their own ways, I caught Ratchet's eye and the two of us slipped out of the command center. Cocking his head at me as we walked down the hallway, Ratchet said "I still believe that this is a most foolish decision Smokescreen."

"That may be Ratchet, but it IS our best one. I can't just stay in the base for who knows how long until the Nemesis' cloaking drops for whatever miraculous reason." I said firmly.

Ratchet sighed and said "I hate it that you are right. Optimus will NOT be pleased though."

"Probably not, but I can live with that." I said with a shrug. Ratchet sighed again but didn't say anything as we moved into the workshop where he did his more…touchy projects.

Thirty minutes later, I was bolting down the highway at a respectable clip of seventy five miles per hour. I had just ignored Optimus' order for me to return to base, not even acknowledging that I had heard him when my rear view mirror spotted a small object trailing me in the air. 'There you are.' I thought to myself before I begin rapidly swerving in order to avoid the shots Lazerbeak was firing at me. I kept dodging for a mile before I transformed, rolling to my feet as I did so and took a few shots at the nuisance. I actually managed to clip the thing's wing before a wall of sound slammed into me and threw me into a nearby rockface. As I groaned I thought 'Well that part of the plan worked…oooow.' The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Soundwave with the Sonic Resonator Blaster aimed at me.

When I came to, I was welcomed by the sight of Knockout looking over me _much_ closer than in the show. Grinning, he said "Wakey, wakey." In response, I immediately snapped my head forward and slammed it into his own face. The doctor's shout of pain and consequent staggering back a couple of steps as he clutched at his face was _extremely_ satisfying.

Megatron's dark chuckle of amusement had me turning my optics towards him as he said "Ah Smokescreen, I do appreciate that fighting spirit of yours."

I let out a snort and said "Really Megatron, if you wanted to see me so badly, there ARE other ways to get my attention. The humans have made this lovely thing called E-Mail, maybe you should give it a try someday."

Megatron let out another chuckle and said "Spirited to the end I see." Turning serious, he stomped forwards and said "I am oh so tempted to kill you where you stand, you have managed in the short time you have been on this planet to be almost as much a thorn in my side as Optimus Prime has been. However, I have decided that business must come before pleasure." He took a few last steps to the table that I was bolted to and said "Hand me the final Iacon relic, now."

I shot the guy a grin and said "Don't know if you've noticed or not big guy, but I'm kind of tied up at the moment." I gave a demonstrative strain against the restraints on my arms and legs before I jerked my head at Knockout who was fingering the Phase Shifter on his arm and continued "And old Knocky there has the Phase Shifter. Besides, that was the only one I was packing."

Knockout sneered at the nickname but didn't say anything as Megatron looked behind him and said "Soundwave."

Soundwave's visor turned on showing a pixelating image and I put a frown on my face as I said "I'm not the one you want Chief. I may have been posted at Iacon back on Cybertron, but I don't know the decryption they used for the Iacon Database, it was WAY above my paygrade."

"Aaw, but you misunderstand, the final entry has been decoded, _by us_!" Megatron said with a grin before looking over his shoulder at the image as it cleared up to show me and said "And as you can see, you are _indeed_ 'the one I want'."

"The question is," Knockout said, bringing attention back to him, and more importantly the scanner tablet in his hands as he continued "What is it that you are still 'packing'?" Holding it over me, the tablet beeped and he brought it down to shown his grin as he said "Why, hidden treasure of course!" Knockout walked over to the display monitor by my medical slab and as he put the image up I saw an Omega Key in my chassis outlined in red, right next to where my Red Energon container was located.

Knockout let an inquisitive hum as his optics narrowed at the device attached to one of my Energon tubes but Megatron apparently wasn't interested in the container as he frowned and said "Yet another one of these identical relics?" Turning his head to Knockout, he said "Remove it swiftly."

Smirking, Knockout formed his saw blade in his right hand and said "With _pleasure_ , I do so resent a finish flashier then my own." I resisted the urge to make a comment about that not being a hard thing to do as he brought the rotating saw towards me. What I didn't resist was the urge to try to get out of the bindings as he brought the saw closer to my chest, the closeness of that blade overriding the knowledge that he _most likely_ didn't plan to use it. Thankfully, the blade DID stop, and as he turned it back into his hand, he said "Hah, made you squirm!"

I gave him a dark look that he ignored in favor of experimenting with the phase shifter, putting one hand through the other's arm, and stomping the floor a couple of times as he said "Trippy, _and_ intuitive! Proper grounding ensures that its user won't phase through the floor."

Megatron though wasn't feeling patient for experimentation as he said "I said _swiftly_!"

Wisely, Knockout quickly drew back his right hand before he reached through my torso and I gritted my teeth as he dug around a little before he grinned and said "Annd, gotcha!"

He pulled the Omega Key out of my torso and showed it to Megatron who gave a small sneer at it before he turned towards me and said "Tell me the function of these relics."

I gave him the most demented grin I could and said "I'm pretty sure that they were made to remove those steel pipes up your Con tailpipes."

Megatron growled but his eyes flicked towards Knockout as he hmphed and said "A pity this little gadget won't let me reach into his brain pan and pluck out the info!"

Taking a step closer, Megatron smiled down at me and said "Fortunately, we possess a device that _can_."

Grinning in order to hide my slight nervousness, I said "Ooh, you don't want to go digging in there old Meggy, it's full of spinning Tasmanian devils and talking rabbits." I knocked my head back on the slab I was pinned to making a few knocking sounds and continued "Too many hours of watching Looney Tunes you see."

"Is that so? Well then, this should be rather interesting to see." Megatron said in amusement before he walked over to the closest unoccupied slab, and Knockout quickly walked over to a shelf to put down the Omega Key where I finally noticed my knives were held in their magnetic sheaths before he grabbed a certain cable and put it on the back of my head and the back of the slab Megatron was laying on top of. Then my sight was once more overcome by darkness.

Scene Change: My Mindscape

Darkness surrounded us and a Megatron with his original arm back looked around curiously as he called out "I see no animated animals Smokescreen."

"They must be on coffee break." I called from behind him and he turned around with a confused look as he looked for me. Smirking, I called out "Down here, big boy."

Megatron glanced down and he took a confused blink as he said "What the?"

Grinning up at him, I put my human right hand in the pocket of my unzipped Carhartt jacket and gave a nonchalant wave with my left as I said "Yo."

"Smokescreen?" Megatron asked in confusion before his optics narrowed and he asked "Why is your mental avatar that of a human?"

My grin grew and said "That is for me to know, and you to lose dozens of sleepless nights wondering. But me being human in here isn't what you should be worrying about."

"Oh, and what is?" Megatron asked with a raised eyebrow.

My grin grew slightly demented as I pointed up and said "THAT is!"

Megatron turned his gaze upwards and when he took notice of the MASSIVE armada of _thousands_ of space ships that were a combination of Cybertronian, ships taken from the various franchises I had read or seen, and just whatever the hell my mind could come up with, all protecting a properly scaled model of Cybertron, took a satisfying step back as he asked "W-What the?"

"Yeeeeah, turns out that being in stasis mode for a few eons while the escape pod I had been in traveled to Earth gave me plenty of time to work on my mindscape. Pretty impressive isn't it?" I asked with a grin.

Megatron looked back down on me and said with grudging respect in his voice "It is at that Smokescreen. However, it will not stop me from finding the information I seek."

I grinned at him and said "Knock yourself out pal. After all, everything that I know is somewhere on that planet. And to get to THAT, you have to deal with THEM." I gave Megatron a cheerful wave and said in a sing song voice "Have fun~" and warped away to the planet surface. Immediately after, turbolasers and other long-range weaponry began slamming into Megatron's position even as swarms of fighter craft were launched.

Scene Change: Knockout's Medical Bay

As Knockout watched what was going on inside of my head on one of the monitors, he whistled and said "Wow, that's one heck of a mental defense system he's got there." He winced as a bright flash of red light took up the screen and he heard Megatron's roar of annoyed fury. "Glad _I'm_ not in there." The medic muttered to himself.

Scene Change: Back In My Mindscape

Despite my words, I DID actually intend for Megatron to find what he was after. It just wasn't going to be the right _version_ of the information. Misdirection was the key here, and while it was true that I couldn't manipulate the content of my memories, I COULD choose which memories Megatron would find in my Mindscape first. And to that end, the massive armada of ships overhead were constantly leading Megatron towards a certain part of the planet even as they made it seem like they were doing their best to destroy him. An opening of a fighter swarm here, a couple of out of placement ships there, it was all to make Megatron go where **I** wanted him to.

And where I wanted him was one of the dozens of Iacon Hall knockoffs I had spread over the planet that dealt with my TV show knowledge, more specifically, my Transformers Prime Knowledge. Not that getting inside of that Hall was going to be any easier than getting to the planet surface had been of course. As a smoking and scorched Megatron finally slammed into the ground in front of me with an enraged growl, I grinned and said "Hiya Meggy! Have fun?"

"Your fleets put up an admirable effort Smokescreen, but your defenses have inevitably _failed_." Megatron sneered down at me as he started striding past me and towards the hall.

Glancing over my shoulder at him, I smirked and said "Oh come now old chap, you really think that those were _all_ of my defenses?" When Megatron stopped and turned slightly as he glanced over his own shoulder with a raised eyebrow, I continued "Those were just the space naval forces, you still have the ground forces to deal with. Hope you're ready for Round Two."

The doors of the Hall swung open and out stepped the seven Gundams of Gundam Wing, flanked by a dozen each of the other types of mobile suits from the show. Openly cackling at the growl Megatron gave at the sight of the mechs, I called out "Ladies and gentlemen, **LLLLLEEEEEETTTT'S GET READY TO RRRRRRRRUUUMBLLLLLEEEE!"** Deathscythe ignited its namesake at my words and launched itself forth with the intent to tear Megatron a new one and the Silver Gladiator let out a war cry as he brought out his sword and made a charge of his own. What followed for the next thirty minutes was the best episode of BattleBots I had ever seen.

As expected, the non Gundam mobile suits were pretty much cannon fodder for Megatron, only their sheer numbers giving him trouble. But with each suit he destroyed, the easier he destroyed the rest, when he wasn't being attacked by a Gundam at least. But eventually even they were destroyed through vicious combat until only Zero was left. Zero of course could have ended the fight with its colony busting blasters, but I didn't _want_ Megatron defeated so it had left the gun in the Hall before coming out to fight. That did not stop it from being an absolute _beast_ with the pair of beam sabers it had. Megatron let out a roar of pain as he sacrificed his non-sword arm to one of those beams sabers in order to stab said sword through Zero's torso before yanking it up and through its head.

As Zero dropped to the ground with a crash, I gave a slight wince and said "Well that happened."

Megatron panted for a bit, hand going up to his stump of a shoulder as he grinned at me and said "Your last defenders put up just as admirable an effort as your space forces Smokescreen, but now they are no more. You cannot stop me." And with that, he strode over the scrapped remains of my mech guardians and into the Hall. I trotted after him and watched as he walked over to the computer terminal in the center of the entrance hall and said "Let's see what the search words of Final Iacon Relics turns up."

What popped up was a video clip that I had purposefully put at the 'front' of the computer system and Optimus' voice came from the speaker "While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega Keys, Alpha Trion knew many secrets, and the ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we consider modern science. Whatever their function, this much is certain. We cannot restore Cybertron without all four Omega Keys in our possession. The future of our home world depends on it."

As the video ended, Megatron glanced back and down at me and viciously grinned as he said "No wonder you fought so hard to keep this information from me."

I had no chance to say anything due to the world turning dark again as Knockout disconnected us.

Scene Change: Knockout's Lab

I came to as Knockout walked over to Megatron and disconnected him. The Silver Gladiator's eyes snapped open and he grinned as he said "The power to remake Cybertron as I see fit." Stepping off the platform the slab was mounted on, he continued "I will pry the other two keys from Optimus Prime's lifeless fingers." Starting to walk towards the Omega Key next to my knives, he said "We must find the exact location of the Autobot base. Patch in and tear apart Smokescreen's mind, if you must."

"Me?!" Knockout said, and the panic in his voice was heard loud and clear.

"Who else? Did you think I would entrust you to see this key safely to the vault containing the other one?" Megatron asked as he held up said key and Knockout looked to the side subdued.

But as Megatron walked to the doorway, I called out "Oh Meeggggy! Aren't you forgetting something?"

The tone of my voice had Knockout taking an instinctive step away from me even as Megatron turned around with an indulgent look in his optics as he said "And what might that be Smokescreen?"

My demented grin returned as I said "I was a guard at the Iacon Hall of Records before I came here, worked as Alpha Trion's bodyguard even until the day we got attacked and I was taken prisoner. You really think I wouldn't have known what I was carrying? And do you think that I wouldn't actually give such an important object to Optimus the moment we were in a safe location?" I VASTLY enjoyed the look of understanding then rage in Megatron's optics as he realized he was holding a fake relic. But before he could open his mouth to demand where the real relic was, my grin grew and I distinctly said "Ban-Kai."

Flashback: A Few Hours Ago, Ratchet's Workshop

Ratchet and I strode in and over to a work table that held an exact replica of the Omega Key I gave Optimus the first day I came to Earth. Gingerly picking it up out of the cradle it was in, Ratchet turned and presented it to me as he said "Here you are Smokescreen, metal shell made out of the same material as the Omega Keys, filled with cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine wrapped around a Cybertronian grenade core, hooked up to a voice activated detonator set to the command word you requested. I must reiterate my question of your sanity for wanting this inside of you."

Cackling a little as I opened up my chest compartment, I said "Oh believe me Doc, I know how crazy this plan is, but that's why it's most likely going to work. After all, how are the Cons ever going to see this coming?"

End Flashback

There was no cliché beeping sound giving any warning, the C4 in the 'Omega Key' just exploded igniting the Cybertronian grenade core in the process which eagerly added its power to the ensuing fireball. Megatron roared in pain as he lost his OTHER hand and was flung backwards, and Knockout got hit with the concussive blast and thrown into the wall by my slab.

I didn't pay that any attention though, as soon as I had said the detonation command, I activated the topped off Red Energon canister inside of me and began rapidly moving my limbs around against their bindings. They gave up the ghost by the time Knockout actually touched the wall and I leapt off the slab and grabbed my knives, slapping their sheaths onto my thighs. Glancing around the room, I noticed that Soundwave had at some point during my little battle of wills with Megatron left the room. Shrugging, I darted over to Knockout's airborne form, grabbed the phase shifter, put it on my wrist, then pulled out my knives and stabbed them through the sides of Knockout's neck. I then rushed over to Megatron's form and did the same, putting my knives through his optics as well for good measure.

I didn't stay to watch the two hit the ground. Instead, I gave a sharp nod then rushed down the hallway, stabbing everyone I saw in the neck as I made my way to the bridge. Sure enough, Soundwave was there, overseeing the drones stationed there. And wouldn't you know it, that was when my first dose ran out. Soundwave quickly spun around when he detected my presence on the bridge, cables shooting out towards me sparking, but I injected my second dose of Red Energon and they immediately slowed the scrap way down. Grinning, I walked forward and sliced the claw ends off before I continued walking and just had a stab fest on him with one knife and Laserbeak with the other, putting as much holes in them as a chain link fence before I turned my attention to the drones in the room.

When the last of the Red Energon wore off, all of the Cons fell to the ground, sparks erupting out of the holes I put in them and a steadily growing Energon puddle started forming under Soundwave. Grinning to myself, I made sure the autopilot was active so that way the ship wouldn't crash into anything then strode out of the bridge whistling. It was time to make a Genocide run.

Two hours later, I was the only Cybertronian alive aboard the Nemesis. My Phase Shifter had been put through its paces, not only did ALL of the Insecticons have those Fuel Rod Cannons, but more than a few of the vehicon drones had rifles that reminded me of Ultra Magnus' gun when he raided Dark Mount and this very ship in the Season 3 Finale. Those two facts puzzled me since I couldn't see Megatron spending all that time making so many weapons with the Forge of Solus Prime until halfway through securing the ship I found a giant machine that did the actual making. An automated hand would stick a chunk of energon and a set amount of metal on one of two conveyor belts, and a Fuel Rod Cannon or Energon Rifle would pop out the other side where another automated hand would move them to a cart that a vehicon drone was waiting next to, obviously to bring to one of the armories of the Nemesis. Needless to say, as soon as I found the thing, I shut it down, though I left its destruction for when Optimus arrived, who knew, we might actually need those big guns further down the line.

Still, everyone else had been dealt with on the ship, even a patrol of fliers that had returned halfway through my one man crusade. There were still all of the Decepticon mines we'd have to clear out of course, but time was certainly something we had in spades now so I didn't worry too much about the thought. Instead, once more on the bridge, I headed for the communications center and set up a video feed with Omega 1.

Ratchet was quick to answer and his usually stern face erupted into a grin as he said "Smokescreen, you're alright."

"Aaand with Omega Key number two." I said holding it up before I turned serious and said "The Nemesis is secured, Megatron, Soundwave, and Knockout are all dead, as are everyone else on the ship."

"Wait, you're telling me you took on everyone on the Con Warship and came out on top?!" Miko asked in amazement, and I noticed that along with all of the Autobots who were looking relieved to see me, Jack, Miko, and Raf were there as well.

I let out a hum of assent at that and Arcee's optics were wide as she asked "How did you pull THAT off?"

Holding up my left wrist, I grinned and said "Phase Shifters are OP." Dropping it back down, I said "Ratchet, I'm sending you the ship's current coordinates and flight path. You guys should bridge up here, we've got a lot to talk about."

"Indeed we do Smokescreen." Optimus said sternly and I didn't bother to hide my wince even as I sent the necessary data then turned off the communications link. Something told me that I was NOT going to enjoy the upcoming conversation, but with Megatron and his inner circle now dead, leaving only Shockwave on Cybertron to deal with, the war was over, and thus, the need to hide what I was as well.

Giving a sigh as the Ground Bridge activated in the Bridge of the ship, I straightened my shoulders and said "Time to nut up or shut up."

END

Author's Notes: Poll and Update Schedule on my Profile.

Whew, well, this SHOULD be the second to last chapter guys. Once this story is done then it will be time to have another poll about what takes this story's slot, so make sure to have another read through of my potential stories so you know what you want to vote for when that poll comes out. I've added one or two since the last one and I have a few extra story ideas running around in my brain pan that I might put up as well.

For now, this is Tac signing out.


	8. Chapter 8

8\. Coming Clean

(Some strong language in this chapter)

Story Start: The Nemesis

The heavy thumping sounds of the Autobots coming down the bridge somehow sounded almost like the drumming you heard during colonial period executions. I quickly shook that crazy thought out of my head though and instead stood ramrod straight as the rest of Team Prime joined me on the bridge. Surprisingly enough, Ratchet and the kids had joined them as well.

At my inquisitive look at Ratchet, he pointed behind him and said "Time delayed deactivation of the Ground Bridge. With the Nemesis secured we can easily use the Decepticons' own to get back to base when we're done here."

"Aw." I said with a nod.

Miko let out a low yet loud whistle at the carnage on the bridge then glanced at one particular body and said "Man, you totally messed Soundwave up!"

"I'll say." Bulkhead said, optics wide as he took in the sheer number of stab wounds on the communications officer's body.

I gave a shrug and said "I could say that I just wanted to be sure he stayed down but I think a small part of me resented the fact that he jumped me with that damn Sonic Resonator Blaster of his just a bit."

"Right, just a bit." Arcee said wryly with a smirk on her face.

Ratchet knelt down to examine the body and hummed as he said "None of these stab wounds were given post mortem, yet there is only this central Energon puddle around him showing that all of these strikes all happened in this one spot." Glancing up with a cocked head, he said "I assume that this is where you activated your second dose of Red Energon?"

I nodded and said "Yeah, I didn't want to give Soundwave a chance to shock me with those cables of his or even use his Ground Bridge control abilities so as soon as I dealt with Megatron and Knockout where they had been interrogating me he was my next target."

"Sound thinking even if I do not approve the brutality you showed in your dealing with him." Optimus said with a nod before he frowned and continued "Furthermore, this entire plan was incredibly reckless of you."

"Perhaps," I admitted before my gaze hardened and I said "But it _was_ the best plan. Besides, I was ninety five percent sure I knew what would happen. Potential future knowledge is great like that."

Everyone there stiffened and Arcee asked "Wait, did you just say _potential future knowledge_!?"

I gave her a rueful smirk before I turned and said "Come on, this conversation will go a lot smoother if we have a visual aid. And I bet you guys want to see the proof of Megatron's demise for yourselves. Primus knows he's come back from the supposed dead often enough."

With that, I led the way back to the medical bay I woke up in, ignoring everything coming from behind me. Though when we entered the room I couldn't help the twitch of my face when Bumblebee said **"Yeah, I don't think we have to worry about him getting back up."**

"Only if we take the right precautions Bee." I said. At everyone's look of confusion, I gestured at the two medical slabs and said "You'll see what I mean soon enough. Ratchet, can you jack me and Optimus in for a cortical psychic patch? The rest of you should be able to watch from that screen there."

The Autobots glanced at the monitor I gestured at even as Ratchet gained an uncertain look and asked "Optimus?"

Optimus studied me for a moment before he nodded and said "Do it Ratchet. If Smokescreen wishes to use this method to explain his actions then I see no reason to prevent it."

Ratchet sighed and said "Very well." Shortly after that, Optimus and I were situated on the slabs and Ratchet paused for only a moment behind Optimus' slab before he inserted the cable.

Scene Change: My Mindscape

Optimus looked around the darkness surrounding him and made a humming sound as he said "I thought that Smokescreen was supposed to be joining me in here."

"Down here big guy." I called up at him with a grin which only grew at the confusion on Optimus' face at my human form.

Kneeling down to get closer to eye level, Optimus frowned and said "Smokescreen, why have you chosen a human form for your mental avatar?"

"Because this was my _original_ form Optimus." I said with crossed arms and I smirked as I said "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Smokescreen, former bodyguard of Alpha Trion and I am a reincarnated soul. In my past life, I was called Matthew Bandstra and I was a Fanfiction Author." My smirk grew as I finished "In other words, I was, and always will be a Word Crafter."

Scene Change: Outside My Mindscape

"No way, _Smoke's_ the guy Alpha Trion warned us about?!" Bulkhead asked with wide eyes and dropped jaw.

"And he was a human before?" Jack asked stunned.

"Ooh, maybe I can get turned into a robot when I die!" Miko said, _of course_ latching onto that bit.

"As surprising as that revelation is, it doesn't explain how he has 'potential future knowledge' though." Ratchet said rubbing his chin in thought before he said "Wait, humanity hasn't been around for as long as he's been alive, how could he _possibly_ have been a human in a previous life?"

Everyone's attention was brought back to the screens as Optimus asked that very question.

Scene Change: Back In My Mindscape

Optimus cocked his head and said "You claim you were a human before your current life Smokescreen, yet how is that possible when humanity wasn't around when you came online?"

I grinned and said " _This_ humanity wasn't around then Optimus, but I wasn't a part of it. I come from the part of the multi-verse ten steps to the left, from an Earth where Cybertronians are Fiction rather than Fact." Turning, I took a step and we were suddenly on Mental-Cybertron in front of the same Hall I had directed Megatron onto and still walking, I waved over my shoulder as I said "Come, it's time for a Marathon."

"A Marathon?" Optimus questioned as he followed me into the hall, his consistent footsteps remaining behind me thanks to mental time-space trickery on my part as I traveled the distance to the computer station faster than he did in the same amount of time.

Leaping up onto the monitor, I grinned and said "Three seasons and a movie's worth to be exact, though don't worry, we'll skip most of what you've already seen." Turning to the screen, I put my hand on it for a moment before I hopped off, floating in the air in a lounging position as the sounds of birds began playing and the screen lit up with a country road and a voice began saying _"So there I am on a lookout when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rearview."_

And so it went. I showed Optimus the five episodes of Darkness Rising before I jumped to New Recruit and continued from there. Optimus remained silent throughout all of the episodes, the only emotion coming from him were times when his fists would clench at certain points like the destruction of the Original Omega Lock, Ultra Magnus losing his hand, and the 'death' of Bumblebee. When the movie ended, Optimus closed his own optics for a few moments.

I didn't say or do anything, merely moved to hang in front of him as he thought. My patience was rewarded when five minutes later, Optimus opened his optics again and said "It is clear to me that your actions have allowed us to achieve victory in a manner to avert much tragedy. But why did you not come forward before this when you first arrived on Earth, or even told Alpha Trion of this?"

I scoffed and said "Would you have believed me?" Uncrossing my arms, I gave an expansive gesture and said "Come on Optimus, what proof could I have given? A set of four coordinates where Relics of Iacon _might_ be? We both know an argument could have been made that I knew those coordinates because I was guarding Alpha Trion during the time that he sent those Relics to Earth. No, I'm pretty sure you guys would just think I was some rookie who knocked his head when he made land fall. So I did what I had to in order to ensure things went the way **I** wanted them to. And if that meant threatening some punk with a crowbar in order to ensure Jack and I could secure the Star Saber while you and the rest of our fighters were being led astray or allowing myself to be captured so that way I could gain access to the Nemesis and trick Megatron into holding a bomb that would hopefully kill him then so be it."

Floating a little higher so that the two of us had to bend our necks a little to maintain eye contact, I thumped my chest and continued "I was somehow brought into this universe with the knowledge of what would happen on the tail end of this war. It was MY responsibility to make sure that the events I had seen did not come to pass. Mine, not yours Optimus, and not any of the others' either. And if I had to do everything I did again with knowledge of what would happen because of my actions then I would _still_ do everything the same way I did the first time. Because the only things we have to worry about now are taking Megatron's corpse off planet to keep Unicron from being able to take over his body and deal with Shockwave back on Cybertron and a single Predacon who hasn't even been brought Online yet."

I re-crossed my arms as I fell silent and kept my eyes on Optimus' own optics. The two of us simply stared at one another for a few moments before Optimus said "The Smokescreen you watched in your previous life played an integral part in the victory of the Autobots in this war, and it seems that you have performed even more admirably. As much as I wish you would have explained your origins upon your arrival, you shall receive no censure from me."

"Alright then." I said with a nod, floating back down to the ground before I said "Ratchet, it seems we're done here." A moment later, the world around the pair of us faded away.

Scene Change: Back Outside My Mind

Snapping my eyes open, I glanced over at where the rest of Team Prime was and asked "You guys have anything you want to say?"

Miko crossed her arms with a pout and said "I can't _believe_ you took away my chance to get into a robot smackdown!"

I snorted at that and rolled my eyes as I muttered "Of _course_ that's what she focused on." Standing up and stretching out my limbs, I said "Anyone else?"

The Autobots traded glances with each other before Arcee stepped forward and said "Smokescreen, or Matthew, or whatever name we're supposed to call you now, thanks for everything you did." She then crossed her arms with a stern look on her face as she said "I'm still upset you kept this from us though. We _would_ have listened if you had told us."

"What's done is done. And while it would have been nice to know of Smokescreen's true origins from the start, he _did_ accomplish his self-assigned task. I believe that given what he knew and his thoughts on how we would have reacted if he came clean that he performed admirably." Ratchet said, giving me a firm nod.

" **I'm just glad that we don't have to worry about having to destroy the Omega Lock to keep the Earth safe."** Bumblebee said and there was a round of heartfelt agreement from the rest of the Autobots.

Before we could possibly move onto any other topics there was the loud sound of three stomachs rumbling and every Autobot glanced over at where the Kids were holding their stomachs in embarrassment. Smiling sheepishly, Jack said "Uh, I don't suppose we could continue this discussion back home after we've had a chance to grab something to eat?"

"And I really need to pee now." Miko said, her face flushing slightly.

"Right, you guys were here for my entire explanation. Sorry about that you three, I forgot you three aren't actually adults yet." I said with an embarrassed rub at the back of my head.

"Indeed, even I forgot about the needs of you three, for which I apologize." Optimus said, a look of slight embarrassment on his own face, before it firmed up and he said "Ratchet, you and Bumblebee shall return to base. Bumblebee shall see to the children's needs while the rest of us shall remain here and begin dealing with the Decepticons who have been working in their Energon mines during the time all this has happened. With any luck with Megatron terminated they shall surrender peacefully but if not then we will have to secure the mines they are stationed at with force."

Bumblebee and Ratchet nodded and soon they and the kids were off the ship and we began the tedious task of going through the ship's computers to find the locations of the Decepticon mines, contact said mines, explain just what was going on and politely but firmly request their immediate surrender. To prove our claims, we allowed one Decepticon from each mine to bridge onto the ship to verify that Megatron and his Inner Circle were in fact dead. A lot of fight left the Vehicons as soon as they came out of the portal only to see Megatron's body along with Soundwave and Knockout's on either side just lying on the floor. After that verification roughly ninety percent of the mines' workforce surrendered peacefully. The only mine that didn't accept our victory happened to be the largest mine the Decepticons currently had, which only made the fact that they chose to detonate said Energon deposit rather than allowing us to capture it all the more disappointing.

Still, even with that little pothole in the road, within thirty five hours all of the Decepticons planet-side had been accounted for and temporarily detained in a few of the Nemesis' larger cargo holds. Their numbers were around three hundred, the rest having had the rather bad misfortune of being on the ship while I went on my Genocide Run, and I was rather thankful that it would be Optimus' call on what to do with them long term. Killing dozens, if not hundreds of sentients in one go during wartime was one thing, but with said war now over what was and wasn't acceptable had changed.

With the remaining Decepticons on Earth dealt with it was time to deal with the one that had been left stranded on Cybertron. Unfortunately, given what we had all seen of Shockwave and Starscream's actions in Predacons Rising, there was very little chance of Shockwave surrendering just because we told him that Megatron was dead. It was much more likely he would go into full on Guerilla Mode and make an army of Predacons to spring on us at some distant point in the future. Which meant that if we wanted to snatch him without having to spend Primus knows how long finding his base of operations then we were going to have to be sneaky about this. And honestly, I kind of preferred the plan we came up with rather than finding a list of possible laboratories contained in an eons old computer system on Darkmount.

Scene Change: Cybertron

We didn't actually head directly to Cybertron as soon as we had a plan for Shockwave. Since we also planned to activate the Omega Lock once the cyclops had been secured, Optimus had decided to allow the Kids, Nurse Darby, and Special Agent Fowler to come with us and witness the event. Even with Ground Bridges to make transporting the needed space suits and food/water supplies, that took a little bit of time to set up.

Seventy two hours after my Genocide Run, the Nemesis reached the Decepticons' Space Bridge hidden behind the moon and activated it, coming out in orbit over Cybertron. Once there, we set up an open channel communication, using a computer program to make Ratchet look and sound like a vehicon drone as he said "Nemesis to Shockwave to you copy?"

A minute and a repetition later, everyone at the Ground Bridge station heard "This is Shockwave, it is good to know that my belief that I had been abandoned was false."

"It is only recently that we have discovered the possibility that you were alive after your encounter with the two Autobots at the site of your Space Bridge sir. As soon as Megatron heard of it he had us come here immediately to retrieve you. Please provide coordinates for Ground Bridge pick up, he is most anxious to have you brought aboard." Ratchet sent back.

"Understood, sending my current coordinates." Shockwave sent and a moment later, the Ground Bridge control station showed that it had received the requested coordinates and Ratchet opened the portal. Within seconds we heard the heavy thumping of his footsteps approaching and all of us sans Ratchet finished moving into a semi circle around the portal, weapons already out and charged.

The instant Shockwave was through, Ratchet shut off the Ground Bridge portal and I smirked from my position on Optimus' left side as I said "Surprise Mother Fucker."

Arcee rolled her eyes at my Dexter quote even as Optimus said "Surrender Shockwave, Megatron is no more and our war has finished."

Shockwave looked at all of us arrayed around him, his monocular head unfortunately not allowing us to detect what he was thinking. His blaster arm stiffened slightly before it released its tension and Shockwave said "Logically speaking, even if you are lying about Lord Megatron's destruction, with you in control of this ship then there is no point for me to fight you now."

"Wise choice." Optimus said, most of the Autobots but me and Bumblebee powering down their weapons turning them back to hands as he continued "And we shall show you that we are not lying about Megatron's demise." With that he turned and lead the way to where we had stored Megatron's body. Needless to say, when he saw not only Megatron's corpse but also Soundwave, Knockout, and the retrieved corpses of Dreadwing and Starscream any and all defiance left the last Decepticon. After all, you could always count on Shockwave to be logical.

One quick trip to where Shockwave had been when he was picked up ensured that the Predacon he currently had slumbering in its containment pod stayed that way until we finished dealing with far more important matters. After that, we landed the Nemesis near the Omega Lock's location, humans and Autobots trooping the mile we had put between the ship and the artifact. The Omega Lock was _BIG_ even on a Cybertronian scale after all, best to make sure we didn't break it or the ship as it formed out of the surrounding area.

When we came up to the control center, I stopped walking ten steps away. When the Autobots realized that I hadn't followed them the whole way Arcee cocked her head and said "Smokescreen, what's wrong?"

Seeing everyone looking at me, I shook my head and said "I'm not really one of you guys, I'm just an outsider with a ring side seat, I don't belong near that thing."

Everyone else gained slight frowns and Optimus said " _Smokescreen_ , regardless of your origins and your omission of facts, without your actions, we would not be standing on Cybertronian soil in order to restore our home world after so long. You _are_ a member of this team." The Prime's emphasis on my current body's name was slightly telling on his thoughts about my belonging both on his team and in this universe in general.

Giving a slight sigh and a nod, I rejoined the others and Bulkhead handed me his Iacon key. At my incredulous look, he smirked and said "You carried it for so long, it only seems right for you to be the one to use it."

I glanced down and seeing that it WAS the one I had given Optimus when I first landed on Earth, I couldn't help but softly huff to myself with a thoughtful "Humph."

Slightly smirking as he and Arcee took their spots for their own keys. Ratchet asked "So Smokescreen, you're the one with Iacon Relics knowledge, how do we do this?"

I looked up from the key I was holding and quickly stepped to the last open spot, Optimus having already claimed the one facing the Nemesis and said "Just give it a sec."

Exactly one second after I spoke, all four keys began glowing rapidly followed by the Omega Lock's control surface and the ground around us. The ground rumbled underneath us as the giant mechanism began unfolding itself.

As it finished forming a circle above us that rapidly filled with glowing blue cyber-matter, Ratchet reverently whispered "By the Allspark." He wasn't the only one to say anything, the Kids and Nurse Darby all let out impressed "Whoa"s while Agent Fowler let out "Sweet Lady Liberty!"

"Yeah, it's quite a sight alright." I said in agreement before I glanced down at Optimus and then the other two key wielders and said "Together now, on three. One, two, three."

All four of us inserted our keys and there was a pulse of light before a holographic image of Cybertron appeared in the center of the control center while another hologram of a launch button and other smaller toggle options appeared in front of Optimus. Optimus studied the controls for a moment before he nodded and said "Let's get started." He then selected the entire holographic planet and pushed the launch button. A moment later, Cybertron's Rebirth began.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my profile. (This WILL be updated after this chapter, explanation below)

Well now, seems I was a bit optimistic last chapter when I thought I said that this one would be the last chapter. There was a LOT more I needed to put in this than I had originally thought. Still, I had said it would be the last and so it is. Flesh to Metal Version 2 is now complete.

Now, I've had a poll up for around a year about which story would replace this one's slot. I must admit to some disappointment that less than eighty people thought they enjoyed my stories enough to make their choice when some of my stories have followers in the triple digits. (Sad author is sad, ) (Shakes Head) Anyways, the winner at 44 votes was my Naruto/Kingdom Hearts Crossover, Kyuubi Jnichuuriki, Got It Memorized? I shall start that story on the next go through of the roster but I have decided that it is not the only story I shall begin.

Let's be honest here people, if I only add a story after I complete another then I'll never get started on some of the stories that I really want to do. So because of this, I'm going to add more slots to my roster. This is what I'm currently thinking of adding to my roster, in no particular order:

The Avatar Class Shinobi (Naruto/Avatar AtLA crossover)

Tyrant of the Seas (One Piece Bounty Hunter Fic)

Getting Force Powers (Star Wars Fic)

Not What Was Wanted, But What Was Needed (Harry Potter Fic)

Hunting Decepticons (RWBY/ Transformers Prime Crossover)

Flesh To Aura Versions 1 & 2 (RWBY Sis)

Playing The Part Of A Hero (My first foray into the My Hero Academia verse)

Zaboomafoo Is A Pirate (The Zoan Version of Pirate King's Tailor)

High Winds on the High Seas (Logia Version of Pirate King's Tailor)

Finally, I thought I would take the time to give you guys a quick progress report for Fish Tales. It is currently 51 pages long at 31,501 words, and I _believe_ that I am currently on the last fifth of that story. I say believe because that story has expanded way past the point that I originally intended it as I further world build but thankfully there is only so much you can stuff into one year 'in-verse time', and I am currently on the eleventh month out of that year. So yeah, hopefully I can finally finish that story either this year or next, just be ready to be in one spot for multiple hours when it does come out.

Alright, I think that's everything I need to cover, see ya around guys.


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